FM likely to meet industry leaders next week

NEW DELHI: Captains of Indian industry are likely to meet Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on June 1 as the new UPA government gets down to prepare its first Budget in the second term.

The corporate honchos, who are expected to meet Mukherjee include Ratan Tata, Mukesh Ambani, Anil Ambani, Kumarmangalam Birla, Harsh Pati Singhania, Venugopal Dhoot, Sunil Bharti Mittal and Sajjan Jindal, according to industry sources.

Industry expects Mukherjee to present a budget that will address the issue of slackening growth through focus on investment, particularly in the infrastructure sector.

A delegation of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) had already met Mukherjee, even before he took charge yesterday, giving him a detailed pre-Budget memorandum that outlines specific measures to put the economy back on fast track.

"We presented our pre-budget memorandum to the Finance Minister at his residence on Sunday. We want focus on economy, growth and infrastructure," said CII Director General Chandrajit Banerjee.

Faced with the challenge of revving up the economy, Mukherjee started consultation with the top officials on budget soon after taking charge yesterday. The union budget would be presented in the first week of July with focus on 'Aam Admi', Mukherjee said.