The GST Council's 46th meeting will be chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today in New Delhi.
The meeting will also be attended by Union Ministers of State for Finance, Pankaj Chaudhary and Dr Bhagwat Kishanrao Karad.
This meeting is crucial ahead of the Union Budget, which the Finance Minister will present to Parliament on February 1st. In its second term, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's NDA government will present its fourth budget.
Nirmala Sitharaman, the Union Budget 2022-23 pre-budget consultations with the Finance Ministers of States and Union Territories (with the Legislature) were held in Delhi on Thursday.
According to the Ministry of Finance, the meeting was attended by Union Ministers of State for Finance, Chief Ministers, Deputy Chief Ministers, Finance Ministers, Ministers and Senior Officers from the States and Union Territories (with Legislature) and the Union Government.
The Union Finance Secretary greeted all of the attendees and explained the significance of this particular consultation meeting. The majority of the participants expressed gratitude to the Union Finance Minister for assisting their States/Union Territories financially during the worst months of the pandemic by increasing borrowing limits, providing back-to-back loans to States, and providing Special Assistance for capital expenditure.
The attendees at Thursday's meeting made numerous suggestions to the Union Finance Minister for inclusion in the Budget Speech. The Finance Minister thanked the participants for their contributions and suggestions for the Union Budget 2022-23, promising to look into each one.