IDEAS FOR BUDGET 2024

Experts suggest how Modi 3.0 can turbocharge the economy.

- NARENDRA BISHT AND SANJAY RAWAT

INDIA HAS A COALITION GOVERNMENT at the Centre after a decade. The Narendra Modi-led NDA government has taken charge with the BJP keeping all key ministries, including defence, home and finance. What can one expect in the first-ever coalition Union Budget under third time Prime Minister Narendra Modi? What could be the pulls and pressures of laying a Union Budget in a coalition government?

Fortune India conducted a pre-budget discussion with some of the brightest economic minds on what to expect in the Budget from Modi 3.0. The panel comprised Subhash Chandra Garg, former finance and economic affairs secretary, Government of India and chief policy advisor, Subhanjali, an advisory firm; Ashwani Mahajan, national co-convener, Swadeshi Jagran Manch; Suneeta Reddy, MD, Apollo Hospitals; Amitabh Dubey, in-charge, research and monitoring, All India Congress Committee (AICC) communications department; N.R. Bhanumurthy, vice-chancellor, Dr BR Ambedkar School of Economics University, Bengaluru, and Shankar Sharma, founder, GQuant Investech and First Global. The discussion was moderated by Rajeev Dubey, Editor-in-Chief, Fortune India. Edited excerpts:

What does coalition politics mean for the Indian economy, reforms, and geo-strategic initiatives?

Ashwani Mahajan: In the last 10 years we have seen growth with stability and the investment-led model. Growth and welfarism go hand in hand. You can’t ignore people at the bottom of the pyramid. We had been thinking about reforms such as opening up the economy, FDI, FPI, and so on. But that doesn’t mean reform. We have been dependent on Chinese imports for a long time. Between 2004 and 2014, we saw 30% growth in Chinese imports. That required a change in track. We had ‘Make in India’, but that could not be very successful. However, Atmanirbhar Bharat is producing results. There has been accelerated investment in the last three years.