FM Sitharaman holds seventh pre-Budget meet with BFSI leaders—Key takeaways inside

The Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman concluded the seventh pre-budget meeting with the BFSI sector on Thursday, November 19, with key demands from NBFCs and related industry bodies. The discussion included representatives from the banking, financial, and insurance sectors.

The Ministry of Finance, through the social media platform X, said, "Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Smt Nirmala Sitharaman chairs the seventh Pre-Budget Consultation with the experts from Banking, Financial Services and Insurance BFSI sector in connection with the forthcoming Union Budget 2026-27, in New Delhi, today".

"The meeting saw participation from Pankaj Chaudhary, Union Minister of State for Finance; Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs; Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India; and senior officials from DFS India," the post read.

Need for dedicated refinancing system for NBFCs

Participants emphasised the need for a dedicated refinancing system for NBFCs to ensure stable liquidity support.

SARFESAI representatives sought an allocation of about Rs 1 lakh crore for NBFCs and urged that SARFESAI provisions be fully extended to them, similar to banks. Currently, these rules apply only to NBFC loans above Rs 20 lakh, which limits their effectiveness in asset recovery.

Additionally, NBFCs called for the removal of TDS on every repayment they receive, arguing that the levy creates unnecessary financial and operational burden.

Later on Wednesday, the focus of the pre-Budget consultation shifted towards the experts and stakeholders from the Information Technology (IT) sector in connection with the forthcoming Union Budget 2026-27.

The pre-budget talks will advance with meetings scheduled with stakeholders from the hospitality and tourism sector for November 20, followed by the talks with infrastructure, energy and urban development stakeholders scheduled on November 21.

The week-long discussion process started on November 18 will conclude on November 26, with internal officers and social sector organisations providing their final round of inputs.