Whenever we think of Indian budget, we think of serious issues but There are so many Interesting Facts About Indian Budget. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was present the Union Budget for the new financial year (2022-23) in Parliament on February 1. When we thought about budget complicated statistics, big announcements, new resolutions, provisions come to mind.
Important decisions are taken in the budget on important and common issues for the country such as various taxes, protection, education, healthcare, infrastructure. The budget is debated for many days before it is presented in Parliament.
11 Most Interesting Facts About Indian Budget
Let’s take a look at some Interesting Facts About Indian Budget that have been tabled so far.
- The first budget of independent India was presented on November 26, 1947. Of course, in that budget, instead of proposing any new tax, the emphasis was on reviewing the economy of India at that time. Considering the overall situation at that time, this first budget had the highest allocation for the defense sector.
- For the first few years, the budget was printed in English only. But from 1955-56, along with English, printing was also started in Hindi and this method has been followed ever since.
- The printing of the budget began in 1950 at the Minto Road printing press in New Delhi. However, with the increase in the scope and circulation of the budget, the printing of the budget started from 1980 at the Government Press, North Block, New Delhi. The purpose behind this was to keep all information in the budget confidential.
- (Late) Indira Gandhi was the first woman Finance Minister of this country. He had presented the budget for the year 1970-71. Incumbent Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is the second woman Finance Minister to present the fourth consecutive budget this year. (Late) Morarji Desai had presented the budget ten times at most.
- The budget was introduced by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 1991 as Finance Minister and later led the country towards globalization and liberalization was hailed as a guideline. Also, the budget presented by former Finance Minister Yashwant Singh in 2000 was known as ‘Millennium Budget’. This budget revolutionized the Indian information technology sector.
- Since 1999, the budget has been presented in Parliament at 11 am. Earlier, the budget was presented at 5 pm.
- When the budget is presented in Parliament, its repercussions are immediately felt in the stock market. Therefore, most of the time on the day of the budget, the stock market sees a big fall or a big jump. Of course, at times, the stock market appears to be welcoming even the coldest of budgets.
- The speech made by the Union Finance Minister while presenting the budget is also a topic of discussion. The nearly two-and-a-half hour speech delivered by the then Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in Parliament in 2014 is considered to be the longest speech ever made by the Finance Minister during the budget.
- From 2017, the railway budget was presented along with the main budget. Earlier, the railway budget was presented separately.
- In 2019, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman introduced the Indian concept of ‘Wahi Khata’ by closing the suitcase used in presenting the budget.
- 2021, that is, last year, for the first time, the budget was presented in paperless, i.e. digital format. The same practice is likely to continue this year as well.
Take a Look
