Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman chaired the pre-budget consultations with States and Union Territories (with Legislature) in New Delhi, today.

The meeting was attended by the Minister of State for Finance Shri Pankaj Chaudhary; Governor of Manipur; Chief Ministers of Goa, Haryana, Meghalaya, Sikkim, UT of Delhi and UT of Jammu and Kashmir; Deputy Chief Ministers of Arunachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan and Telangana; the Finance Ministers and other Ministers representing States and UT with Legislature. The Secretaries of Departments of Economic Affairs, Expenditure, and Revenue, and other senior officials of the Union Ministry of Finance and States/UT Governments also attended the meeting.

The participants gave several valuable suggestions to the Union Finance Minister for consideration in the Union Budget for FY 2026-27. Specifically, many participants highlighted that the Scheme for Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment (SASCI) be continued with higher allocations as it helps in fast-tracking asset creation and supports capital investments in the States and UTs with Legislature.

It is worth mentioning that since 2020-21, the Union Government has released more than Rs 4.25 lakh crore as 50-year interest free loans to the States under SASCI.

The Union Finance Minister thanked all the dignitaries and assured that the suggestions given by them would be duly examined and suitably considered while formulating the Budget 2026-27.

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NB/KMN