{
  "id": 4120137,
  "title": "Pre-Budget meetings for 2027 to begin October 12",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/29/pre-budget-meetings-for-2027-to-begin-october-12",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-08-29T05:11:38.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Economic Times",
    "slug": "the-economic-times",
    "url": "https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/budget-2027-finance-ministry-sets-october-12-for-pre-budget-meetings-seeks-spending-and-revenue-plans/articleshow/133604344.cms"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Finance Ministry has mandated central ministries and departments to formulate precise expenditure and revenue forecasts for the forthcoming 2027-28 Union Budget, emphasizing expenditure control, scheme rationalization, and enhancement of non-tax revenue generation. Pre-Budget deliberations, led by the Secretary (Expenditure), are set to commence on October 12, 2026, and persist until mid-November 2026, as per the Budget Circular 2027-28 issued on August 27, 2026. The circular outlines the procedure for preparing Revised Estimates for 2026-27 and Budget Estimates for 2027-28. Ministries are tasked with submitting requisite information by October 6, while tax receipts estimates are due by October 15.\n\nMinistries are instructed to submit all committed and ongoing expenditure before requesting allocations for new schemes or expenditure items. Estimates must incorporate actual spending up to September 2026, expenses during the analogous period of the preceding year, pending arrears, unspent balances, and projected spending. The government seeks a thorough examination of existing schemes, urging that discontinued schemes be omitted from the Revised Estimates for 2026-27 and that schemes not extending beyond 2026-27 not receive allocations in the 2027-28 Budget. Expenditure projections for both new and ongoing Central Sector Schemes, Centrally Sponsored Schemes, and projects must adhere to the stipulations set by the Department of Expenditure.\n\nDepartments are also prohibited from amassing substantial savings or surrendering funds at the end of the fiscal year. The circular highlights that Parliamentary Committees have consistently voiced concerns over significant grant savings. Savings of ₹100 crore or more in a grant necessitate an explanation to the Public Accounts Committee. Ministries must furnish details of non-tax revenue, encompassing user charges and arrears, and outline measures to augment collections. They are also obliged to consider modifications to user charges levied by departments, ministries, and autonomous bodies to recover current service costs and a reasonable capital investment return. Departments are further required to disclose efforts to recover non-tax revenue arrears.\n\nSubsidy calculations must explicitly state the assumptions used. The Budget exercise is interconnected with the 16th Finance Commission cycle. Schemes proposed to persist during the new Finance Commission period must be appraised and sanctioned by the appropriate authority. Ministries must transmit the final Expenditure Forecast Committee (EFC) memoranda to the Department of Expenditure prior to their pre-Budget meetings. Final expenditure ceilings are anticipated to be posted in the Union Budget Information System by the end of December 2026. The submission deadline for Gross Domestic Product (GDP) estimates from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) is January 7, 2027. Budget-related data must be filed through the Union Budget Information System, with ministries mandated to maintain confidentiality throughout the Budget preparation process.",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}