Producer: Mehak Pal Editor: Mohit Bisht
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the budget on February 1. The upcoming budget will be an ‘interim’ one; this is because 2024 is a general election year.
The Union budget is an annual financial statement that lays out the government’s proposed expenditures and revenues for the upcoming fiscal year. It begins on April 1st of that year and ends on March 31st of the following year.
The process of preparing a budget begins six months before the financial statement's tabling in Parliament. The finance ministry allocates revenues to departments. Meanwhile, the Finance Minister discusses proposals and demands with stakeholders and finalises decisions with the Prime Minister.
Every year, Parliament's budget session begins on January 31. The President of India addresses a joint sitting of the two Houses, Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha. The document itself is tabled the next day, in Lok Sabha, the Lower House.
The ‘halwa’ ceremony marks the final stage of the budget presentation process and precedes the ‘lock-in’ process of the budget's tabling. During their ‘lock-in,’ officials involved in the budget's preparation are housed inside the Budget Press.
In February 2019, the budget was tabled by Union minister Piyush Goyal, who was assigned finance as an additional portfolio in the absence of then finance minister Arun Jaitley.
Yes, all 14 documents are uploaded on the ‘Union Budget Mobile App.’
It is closely watched by businesses, investors, and the general public as it provides insight into the government’s economic policies and priorities.