Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman held pre-budget consultations with the Finance Ministers of States and Union Territories yesterday.

The meeting was held through video conference and was attended by Chief Ministers, Deputy Chief Ministers, State Finance Ministers and Senior Officers from the States and Union Territories.

The Finance Minister highlighted the importance of the meeting as a sign of co-operative federalism and indicated the manner in which the Union Government was strongly supportive of States and Union Territories’ fight against the pandemic. The participants thanked Ms. Sitharaman for financially supporting their States and Union Territories during the worst months of pandemic, by enhancing borrowing limits and providing back to back loans to states. The participants also gave numerous suggestions to the Finance Minister for inclusion in the Budget Speech.