Finance Minister Chairs Pre-Budget Talks with Trade Unions

Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Nirmala Sitharaman, chaired the eighth pre-budget consultation in New Delhi, focusing on trade union inputs for the Union Budget 2025-26. The session was attended by Minister of State for Finance, Pankaj Chaudhary, Finance Secretary, Secretaries from the Department of Economic Affairs and Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM), Labour Ministry representatives, and the Chief Economic Adviser. The meeting is part of the Union government’s annual effort to incorporate diverse stakeholder views into budget planning, addressing economic challenges and resource allocation.

According to The Economic Times, trade unions urged Sitharaman to raise the minimum pension under the Employees' Pension Scheme (EPS-95) to ₹5,000 (approximately $60) per month, five times its current amount, in the upcoming 2025-26 Budget. In their meeting, Union leaders such as S P Tiwari from the Trade Union Coordination Committee (TUCC), Pawan Kumar from the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), Swadesh Dev Roye from the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), and Deepak Jaiswal from the National Federation of Indian Trade Unions (NFITU) also pressed for the constitution of the eighth Pay Commission, an increase in the income tax exemption limit to ₹10 lakh ($12,000) per year, and higher taxes on the super-rich. Other requests included a social security scheme for gig workers, restoration of the old pension scheme (OPS) for government employees, and extending social security benefits to agricultural workers. The Budget will be presented on February 1.