New Delhi, Jan 30: The Budget Session of Parliament will begin on Friday (January 31) with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman scheduled to table the Economic Survey after President Droupadi Murmu addresses the joint session of both Houses in the morning.

The Economic Survey, which is a report card on the economy prepared by the Finance Ministry, will set the stage for the presentation of the Union Budget 2025-26 on Saturday, February 1.

The Economic Survey apart from analysing in detail the performance of the economy across various sectors, presents the short- to medium-term outlook for the Indian economy. It also contains suggestions for the government’s fiscal policy but these are not binding.

The Finance Minister is expected to continue with the government’s policy of stepping up investments in big-ticket infrastructure projects to spur growth and create more jobs in the economy in the Budget for 2025-26.

The agriculture and rural sectors are expected to get increased allocations as are welfare schemes to uplift the poor.

There may be sops for the middle class with some reduction in income tax rates to place more disposable income in the hands of the people to accelerate demand and give a further fillip to growth.

Besides, some changes in customs duties to correct the inverted duty structure in some items to help domestic manufacturing appear to be on the cards.

Meanwhile, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh chaired the customary all-party meeting on Thursday ahead of the budget session. The meeting is convened to inform political parties about the government's legislative agenda and to seek their input on the issues they would like to raise during the session.

Several leaders, including BJP President and Union minister J P Nadda, Gaurav Gogoi and Jairam Ramesh of the Congress, T R Baalu of the DMK, Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Derek O' Brien of the TMC attended the meeting. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju was also present.

The first leg of the Budget Session will begin on January 31 and end on February 13 while the second leg will begin on March 10 and end on April 4. (IANS)

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