Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is scheduled to present the budget for the fiscal year 2024-25 on February 1. The traditional pre-budget 'halwa' ceremony, a symbolic event marking the beginning of the final stage of preparations for the Interim Union Budget 2024, took place on January 24 in New Delhi. The ceremony initiates a 'lock-in' period for officials involved in budget preparation, ensuring confidentiality until the budget is officially presented in the Lok Sabha on February 1.
This budget is considered 'interim' as the government is facing a general election in April-May, making it the final budget of the Narendra Modi government's second term.
10 facts about the Union Budget 2024
- The Union Budget comprises two parts: the Annual Financial Statement and the Demand for Grants, outlining government revenue and estimated expenditures, respectively.
- India's first-ever budget was presented on April 7, 1860, by Scottish economist James Wilson from the East India Company. It introduced income tax, a significant revenue source today.
- After India's independence, the first budget was presented on November 26, 1947, by R K Shanmukham Chetty, the finance minister at the time.
- Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman holds the record for the longest budget speech, speaking for two hours and 42 minutes during the Union Budget for 2020-21.
- Manmohan Singh delivered the longest budget speech in terms of words, using 18,604 words in 1991, during the Narasimha Rao government.
- The shortest budget speech was presented by Hirubhai Mulljibhai Patel in 1977, with just 800 words.
- Former Prime Minister Moraraji Desai submitted the most budget proposals in India's history, presenting 10 budgets during his tenure as finance minister.
- The Union Budget was presented at 5 pm on the last working day of February until 1999, when Yashwant Sinha changed the timing to 11 am.
- Till 1955, the Union Budget was presented only in English, but the Congress government decided to print it in both Hindi and English.
- Due to the COVID-19 epidemic, the budget for 2021-22 was entirely digital, marking a first for independent India.
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