The Union Budget in India remains the bellwether of where the government is headed with its economic policies. But much of the immediate commentary and excited dialogue on TV and the newspapers takes a narrow, short-term view. As a counter, the executive directors of five of India’s leading economic policy research institutes came together in March 2007 for the first time to present their assessment of the longer term reform and development implications of the Budget. As we have done for the past 11 years, these five institutions will again come together in 2018 to present their more reflective assessment of the Union Budget 2018-19.