Finance Minister to meet India Inc. after Budget Session

FM Nirmala Sitharaman will meet representatives of the MSME sector on Tuesday. On Aug 7, FM to meet representatives of the automobile sector, the meeting will be attended by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari.

New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will hold a series of meetings this week to take stock of the economy which has witnessed a downturn in recent quarters, Finance Secretary Rajiv Kumar said on Monday.

On Tuesday, she will meet representatives of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector. With about 6.34 crore units across the country, MSMEs employ 12 crore people and contribute 20 per cent to the GDP and 45 per cent of overall exports from India.

On August 7, Sitharaman will meet business leaders from the automobile sector. Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari will also participate in the meeting.

About two lakh jobs have been cut across automobile dealerships in the past three months as vehicle retailers tide over the impact of an unprecedented sales slump. Passenger vehicles segment has been the worst hit with sales continuing to decline for almost a year now.

The Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA) has warned of 10 lakh job cuts in the auto sector if the trend continues.

On August 8, the Finance Minister is scheduled to meet industry bodies. A day later, she will meet financial market chiefs from the BSE India, the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) and mutual fund houses.

On August 11, Sitharaman will meet with representatives from the real estate industry and home buyers. All the meetings will be attended by union ministers of the concerned sectors.

Earlier this month, Crisil ratings revised India's FY20 growth estimate downwards from 7.1 per cent to 6.9 per cent due to the weak monsoon, slowing global growth and sluggish high-frequency data for the first quarter.