With the polls and related work in the five states including Uttar Pradesh completing only by March 9, sources indicate that Congress-led UPA government is likely to present the Union Budget on March 15. Recently, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee had said that the Budget will be presented after the completion of elections in five states, but the formal announcement is yet to be made.
While the Centre is deliberating on March 15 for presenting the Budget, sources said. The whole budgetary process which begins with Presidential address is likely to be scheduled for March 12, followed by the Economic Survey on March 13 and Railway Budget on March 14. But a final call will be taken after the core committee meeting of the Congress, expected to be held shortly.
With the government battling slowing economy on the one hand and failure to push key reforms on the other, the Budget for 2012-13 will be keenly watched by the industry. The five states of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa will go to the polls from January 28 to March 3. Counting will take place on March 4 and the election process will be completed by March 9.
Traditionally, the Budget is presented on the last day of February, and 2012 being a leap year it was scheduled to be unveiled on February 29. But in case of elections, presentation of the Budget is postponed as per the Election Commission norms.
Mukherjee will begin brainstorming pre-budget sessions with stakeholders from January 11. The focus is likely to be on the agrarian sector, but a series of meetings will also be held with industry captains and economists to ascertain their views.
The first meeting would be held with agriculturalists, followed by a series of interactions with sectoral experts, representatives, industry captains and economists over the next 10 days to get their feedback and inputs for incorporating them in Budget 2012-13.