The Union Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday approved the Budget 2023-24 ahead of it being tabled by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament. This will be the Modi government’s last full-fledged Budget before its term ends in February 2024.
This is the fifth Budget presentation by the Union Finance Minister.
Sitharaman, Minister of State (MoS) for Finance Bhagwat Kishanrao Karad, MoS Pankaj Chaudhary and senior officials of the Ministry of Finance called on President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan before presenting the Union Budget.
Earlier, Bhagwat Karad offered prayers ahead of the Budget presentation.
The Budget 2023 will be presented in paperless form, like it has been done for the past two years, the finance ministry said.
The Budget Session of Parliament began on Tuesday with President Droupadi Murmu’s maiden joint address to both houses of Parliament. The session will have 27 sittings and will continue till April 6, with a month-long recess to examine the budget papers.
The first part of the session will conclude on February 13. Parliament will reconvene on March 12 for the second part of the Budget Session and conclude on April 6.
After the President’s address, Sitharaman tabled the Economic Survey for the financial year 2022-23, which pegged India’s economy growth rate at 6-6.8 per cent in the coming financial year 2023-24, down from 7 per cent this fiscal and 8.7 per cent in 2021-22.
