Union Budget 2024: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is poised to make history by delivering her seventh consecutive Budget on Tuesday (July 23) for the fiscal year 2024-25, surpassing former Prime Minister Morarji Desai’s record. Appointed as India’s first full-time woman finance minister in 2019, she has presented six budgets to date, including an interim one earlier in February 1. The upcoming full Union Budget marks her seventh straight, exceeding Desai’s record of five consecutive full budgets and one interim budget from 1959 to 1964.
Here’s a list of 9 facts about India’s Budget presentation:
–First Budget of Independent India: India’s inaugural Union Budget post-independence was presented on November 26, 1947, by RK Shanmukham Chetty, marking a historic fiscal milestone.
–Most Budgets Presented: Former Prime Minister Morarji Desai holds the record for presenting the most budgets among Indian finance ministers. He served under Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Lal Bahadur Shastri and presented a total of 10 budgets during his tenure.
Desai’s budgetary legacy began with his first budget on February 28, 1959. Over the years, he presented full budgets consecutively for the next two years. In 1962, he presented an interim budget, followed by two more full budgets. After a gap of four years, Desai presented another interim budget in 1967. Subsequently, he presented three full budgets in consecutive years from 1967 to 1969, completing a total of 10 budgets during his distinguished tenure as Finance Minister.
–Second Highest Number of Budgets: Congress leader P Chidambaram, former Finance Minister, presented budgets on nine occasions. His stints included terms -under the United Front government led by HD Deve Gowda and later during the Congress-led UPA regime.
–Third Highest Number of Budgets: Congress leader and former President Pranab Mukherjee presented eight budgets, spanning from the early 1980s to 2012, prominently during his role in the UPA government, contributing significantly to India’s economic policies.
–Manmohan Singh’s Contributions: Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh presented five consecutive budgets between 1991 and 1995, during his tenure as Finance Minister under P V Narasimha Rao’s government, pivotal for India’s economic reforms.
–Longest Budget Speech: Nirmala Sitharaman delivered the longest budget speech on February 1, 2020, lasting two hours and 40 minutes, underlining comprehensive fiscal policies and reforms.
–Shortest Budget Speech: Hirubhai Mulljibhai Patel’s interim Budget speech in 1977 remains the shortest, succinctly delivered in just 800 words.
–Historical Timing Shift: Traditionally, the Budget was presented on the final day of February at 5 pm, a practice dating back to colonial times when announcements synchronized with London’s time zone. India, being 4 hours and 30 minutes ahead of British Summer Time, ensured the Budget was delivered during daylight hours in the UK. In 1999, Finance Minister Yashwant Singh of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government changed the timing to 11 am. Since then, Budget presentations have consistently occurred at this earlier hour.
–Date Change: In 2017, the Budget presentation date was moved to February 1st to expedite the Parliamentary approval process, ensuring completion by the end of March. This adjustment enabled the Budget’s implementation to commence from April 1st, the start of the fiscal year. Previously, presenting the Budget on February 29th necessitated a delay in implementation until May or June, factoring in the 2-3 months required for parliamentary approval.