10 Interesting Facts About Indian Union Budget .

Dr. Virendra Tatake 

1) The first budget of independent India was presented on 26th November 1947. Of course, in that budget, instead of proposing any new tax, the emphasis was on reviewing the economy of India . Considering the overall situation at that time, this first budget had the highest allocation for the defense sector.

2) In the first few years, the budget was printed only in English but from the year 1955-56, along with English, printing was also started in Hindi and this method has been followed ever since.

3) From the year 1950, printing of budget started in the printing press located at Minto Road, New Delhi. However, after the increase in the scope  of the budget, the printing of the budget was started from the year 1980 at the Government Printing Press at North-block, New Delhi. The purpose behind this was to keep all the information in the budget confidential.

4) The late Indira Gandhi was the first woman Finance Minister of the country. She presented the budget for the year 1970-71. Incumbent Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is the second woman Finance Minister to present her fourth consecutive budget this year. The late Morarji Desai had presented the budget  for   ten times which is considered as the record for any finance minister  .

5) The budget presented by the former Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh as the Finance Minister in the year 1991 was  hailed as a guideline to lead the country towards globalization, privatization and liberalization. Also, the budget presented by the then Finance Minister Yashwant Singh in the year 2000 was known as Millennium Budget. This budget revolutionized the Indian information technology sector.

6) From the year 1999, the budget was presented in the Parliament at eleven o'clock in the morning. Earlier, the budget was presented at 5 pm. When the budget is presented in Parliament, its reactions  are immediately felt in the stock market. Therefore, most of the time on the day of the budget, there is a big fall or big jump in the stock market. Of course, sometimes the stock market even gives a 'cold welcome' to the budget.

7) The speech made by the Union Finance Minister while presenting the budget is also a subject of great discussion. The speech of the then Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the year 2014, when he presented the budget, is considered to be the longest speech ever made by the Finance Minister during the budget.

8) From the year 2017, the railway budget was presented along with the main budget. Earlier, the railway budget was presented separately.

9) In the year 2019, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman started the genuine Indian concept called 'Bahi Khata' by stopping  the suitcase used in presenting the budget.

10) The year 2021, i.e. last year, for the first time the budget was presented in paperless i.e. digital format.

-Dr.Virendra Tatake

( The Author is associated as Director at Indira Global Business School )