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Budget 2022 Live Updates: PM Modi speaking, watch video here

This budget brings in new hopes and opportunities for the people. It strengthens the economy; it’s full of ‘more infrastructure, more investment, more growth and more jobs’. There is also a new provision of green jobs; budget ensures a bright future for youth: PM Modi

PM Modi speaking, watch video here

There was focus on health infrastructure, mental health and other provisions in today’s Budget; thankful to PM Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman: Union MoS Health, Dr Bharti Pravin Pawar

Budget is very balanced, says BSE MD Ashish Chauhan

If you look at Budget, there’s very little mention of healthcare, says Dr Naresh Trehan, Chairman-MD, Medanta

Priority given to agriculture, rural areas, welfare of all sectors followed by a focus on infrastructure, says Nitin Gadkari

I propose 1% TDS on payment made in relation to transfer of virtual digital assets…Gift of virtual digital assets is also proposed to be taxed in the hands of the recipients: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

In view of the pandemic, I propose to extend the period of incorporation of eligible start-ups by one more year up to 31-3-2023 for providing tax incentives: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

Budget in line with expectations

Upasna Bhardwaj, Senior Economist at Kotak Mahindra Bank, said,
“The Budget outturns are broadly in line with our expectations with the government having continued its focus on infrastructure and rural demand. Accordingly as expected the government has refrained from a sharp fiscal consolidation. While the fiscal expansion is expected to be pro-growth, the heavy supply is expected to worry the bond market.”

Big announcement on financing of investments

Lalit Kumar, J Sagar Associates (JSA) said, “One of priorities of the Budget set out at the outset of the FM’s speech was financing of investments. There are big announcements made in this regard. There will issue of sovereign Green Bonds for boosting green infrastructure in public sector projects. The International Financial Services Centres at GIFT city will be developed greatly to set up world class universities to impart courses including in finance, science and technology and biology, all these will be free from domestic regulations. An international arbitration centre for disputes resolution is also proposed to be set up in the GIFT city. It will facilitate disputing parties to settle their disputes in a foreign jurisdiction (ie., akin to a foreign award). Further, service of global capital in also proposed in GIFT city. This will greatly benefit and accelerate the business activities in the International Financial Services Centres.”

Customs duty on cut & polished diamonds, gems to be reduced to 5%: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

Budget has taken prudent initiatives for India Inc

Siddharth Maurya, Resource Specialist, Fund Management, “The Budget session has taken some prudent initiatives for MSMEs and India INC. for startups the tax concession period has been extended by one more year, which in my opinion is a very positive move. Likewise, a 15 percenttax has been decided for the newly incorporated manufacturing unit. The period of incorporation has been increased by one more year to 31-3-2024. This will further boost manufacturing activities.”

Credit, fiscal support of Rs 5 lakh cr to boost MSMEs

Chandan Garg, Chairman & MD, Innovana Group, said “The extension of ECLGS scheme is a welcome move for MSMEs. The credit and fiscal support of 5 lakh crores will give a huge boost to this sector encouraging new businesses to come to the fore. This announcement will certainly generate more than 10 lac of employment opportunities in a short span of time. However, a slight focus on easing the trade and the taxation policies for MSMEs facilitating more freedom to do business was also expected from this year’s budget announcement.

Spectrum auction to be conducted for 5G rollout within 2022-23: Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said spectrum auction will be conducted to roll out 5G mobile services within 2022-23 by private firms.

I propose to provide that any income from transfer of any virtual digital asset shall be taxed at the rate of 30% , says Nirmala Sitharaman

“I propose to provide that any income from transfer of any virtual digital asset shall be taxed at the rate of 30%. No deduction in respect of any expenditure or allowance shall be allowed while computing such income, except cost of acquisition,” said Nirmala Sitharaman.

Corporate surcharge to be reduced from 12% to 7% , says Nirmala Sitharaman

Open platform for National Digital Health ecosystem ‘welcome move’

Satish Gidugu, CEO, Medi Assist Healthcare Services, “Open platform for the National Digital Health Ecosystem is a welcome move to accelerate digital health push. The insurance industry, as the largest single consumer of the healthcare services, has the best understanding of access to healthcare and financing of costs. We will actively participate and contribute towards creating a solid digital framework for universal health care.”

Boost to telemedicine

Dr. Rana Mehta, Partner and Leader Healthcare, PwC India: “The pandemic has caused a silent global mental health epidemic. The use of telemedicine to diagnose and treat such patients has proved to be highly effective given the unobtrusive nature of the interaction which also ensures patient privacy. Given the shortage of mental health professionals, especially in rural areas, telemedicine will greatly enhance accessibility for patients requiring psychiatric help.”

Rs 48,000 crores allocated for completion of construction of 80 lakh houses under PM Awas Yojana in rural and urban areas in the year 2022-23, says Nirmala Sitharaman

Both Centre and States govt employees’ tax deduction limit to be increased from 10% to 14%

Both Centre and States govt employees’ tax deduction limit to be increased from 10% to 14% to help the social security benefits of state govt employees and bring them at par with the Central govt employees, said FM Nirmala Sitharaman.

Announcement to set up 75 digital banks, ‘excellent proposal’

Kashyap Mahavadi, Founder/CEO, Dinero: “Finance Minister’s excellent proposal to set up 75 digital banks in 75 districts by scheduled commercial banks is truly the best gift to the country on the occasion of Azadi ka Amritmahotsav. The proposal not only reflects the digital-first approach of the Government but will also truly shape new-age banking in India. The proposal also will boost financial inclusivity to help rural India transition into formal economy. After JAM, UPI to now a leap forward to digital banking, India is standing as an example globally on Banking revolution.”

To provide an opportunity to correct an error, taxpayers can now file an updated return within 2 years from the relevant assessment year, says Nirmala Sitharaman

Strong commitment towards urban growth, clean tech

Siddharth Maurya, Resource Specialist – Real Estate and Fund Management , said, “The Union Budget has once again demonstrated the government’s strong commitment towards systematic urban growth with a focus on clean tech, sustainable urban living, and better governance. GOI will build the right balance between large mega cities as well as tier- 2 & 3 cities, which is a welcome move. The development agenda will also focus on creating mass transit systems and encouraging EVs which will help in reducing overall carbon footprint and give a better living experience to our city dwellers. Meanwhile, we will also like to thank the government to start 5 new urban development institutes in India, as it can herald a new beginning in urban development.

Updation of NIP with Gati Shatki with real-time updation on infra project to boost investors

Vishnu Sudarsan, Partner, J. Sagar Associates (JSA), said: The bug bear of cost overruns and time overruns synonymous with Indian infrastructure may be arrested through an integrated approach on planning and coordinated implementation of infrastructure connectivity projects in the form of Gati Shakti touching upon energy transition, climate action, logistics and connectivity. The initial allocation of Rs 20,000 crores for the 100 lakhs crores is laudable and is a measure much required. However, it remains to be seen how the implementation of the funds and progress on projects for infrastructure will be digitally enabled and monitored for removing infrastructure delivery bottlenecks. Amongst others, the siloed approach and environmental challenges have been the key reason for slow pace of implementation, but National Infrastructure Pipeline provided the initial building block for reviving the energy and infrastructure in India. Integration and updation of National Infrastructure Pipeline with Gati Shatki with real-time updation on infrastructure projects will boost investor confidence, and rev up the private sector participation.”

For 2022-23, allocation is Rs 1 lakh cr to assist the states in catalyzing overall investments in economy, says Nirmala Sitharaman

Big infra spend thrust of Budget 2022

Dinesh Kanabar, CEO, Dhruva Advisors said, “Big Infra spend seems to be the thrust of the Budget. This was the industry ask and seems to be what the Budget is all about!! Amendments to IBC process to enhance resolution process efficiency including cross border resolutions will be very interesting. A bill to amend SEZ to be tabled to make states as Partner on developing manufacturing and services hub. This will help the PLI Scheme becoming effective”

Digital rupee to be issued using blockchain and other technologies; to be issued by RBI starting 2022-23, says FM Nirmala Sitharaman

Effective Capital Expenditure of the Central Govt is estimated at Rs 10.68 lakh crores in 2022-23, about 4.1% of GDP: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

68 per cent of capital for defence sector to be earmarked for local industry, says FM Nirmala Sitharaman

68% of the capital procurement budget for Defence to be earmarked for domestic industry to promote Aatmanirbharta and reduce dependence on imports of defence equipment. This is up from the 58% last fiscal, said Nirmala Sitharaman.

Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics (AVGC) sector offers immense potential to employ youth. An AVGC promotion task force with all stakeholders will be set up to recommend ways to realise this and build domestic capacity for serving our markets and the global demand: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

Special Economic Zones will be replaced with new legislation…for the development of enterprise and hubs… It will cover the existing industrial enclaves and enhance the competitiveness of exports: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

To reduce the delay in payment, an online bill system to be launched which will be used by all Central ministries, says Nirmala Sitharaman

68% of the capital procurement budget for Defence to be earmarked for domestic industry to promote Aatmanirbharta and reduce dependence on imports of defence equipment. This is up from the 58% last fiscal: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

PM housing scheme announcement positive for realty

Yash Gupta- Equity Research Analyst, Angel One Ltd said, “PM housing scheme – 48,000 will be alloted for FY23 for housing project, 80 Lakhs home will be built – Very positive for Real-estate sector.”

Open Digital University to cover loss of 2 years of regular education

Nitin Potdar, Partner, J. Sagar Associates (JSA), said, “Loss of 2 years of regular education seem to be covered by Open Digital University, which would collaborate with existing universities along with 200 New TV channels for education sounds very promising. We only hope that this gets implemented in record time and does not get lost in Govt red tape. But no specific funding of Road Map for implementation of New Education Policy 2020 is a big disappointment of the education sector.”

Boost to warehousing, logistics: Colliers

Ramesh Nair, CEO, India & Managing Director, Market Development, Asia at Colliers said, “The Budget made several announcements to spur growth of the logistics sector in the country. The Budget announced that about 25,000 km of new highways will be built this year. Moreover, Gati Shakti Masterplan for expressways,100 new cargo terminals for multi-nodal logistics, and development of urban metro systems will give a big boost to new warehousing and logistics facilities across the country. The government also extended the ECLGS up to March 2023. This will go a long way in supporting the MSME sector and revive industrial activity. This has immense scope to drive demand for warehousing and logistic sectors. The government repealed about 1,490 union laws, paving the way to enhance ease of doing business. The government also plans to launch ‘Ease of Doing Business 2.0.’ This should include more dynamic aspects and make India a more investment friendly destination.”

Budget still about mega projects

Two years of the pandemic has exhausted the nation. But the budget relentlessly drones on about mega plans and projects which will quietly sink. Remember 100 smart cities? So much of multi-modal etc would have been a part of it if any city had come up in 7 years! , said Sucheta Dalal.

75 digital banks in 75 districts will be set up by scheduled commercial banks to encourage digital payments: Nirmala Sitharaman

To mark 75 years of independence, 75 digital banking units in 75 districts will be set up by scheduled banks.

Rs 6,000-cr programme to rate MSMEs to be rolled out in 5 yrs: Sitharaman

A Rs 6,000-crore programme to rate MSMEs will be rolled out over the next five years, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday.

Fund to be facilitated through NABARD to finance startups for agriculture and rural enterprise, relevant for farm produce value chain, says Nirmala Sitharaman

Extension of ECLGS with additional allocation to boost MSMEs

“The extension of ECLGS with additional allocation to the hardest COVID-hit sectors like hospitality is a welcome move to empower the struggling MSME’s in this sector to cope up with the vulnerabilities arising out of COVID induced challenges,” said Yesha Shah, Head of Equity Research, Samco Securities.

Use of Kisan Drones to be promoted for crop assessment, digitization of land records, spraying of insecticides and nutrients, says Nirmala Sitharaman

To promote a shift to the use of public transport in urban areas…special mobility zones with zero fossil fuel policy to be introduced…Considering space constraints in urban areas, a ‘Battery Swapping Policy’ will be brought in: FM FM Nirmala Sitharaman

Recognising the importance of ‘Nari Shakti’, 3 schemes were launched to provide integrated development for women and children, says Nirmala Sitharaman

Govt to pay Rs 2.37 lakh crore for procurement of wheat, paddy under MSP

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said the government will pay Rs 2.37 lakh crore towards procurement of wheat and paddy under MSP operations. The fiscal 2022-23 has been announced as International Year of Millets, the finance minister said while presenting the Union Budget for 2022-23.

Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) will be extended up to March 2023, the guaranteed cover will be expanded by Rs 50,000 crores to total cover of Rs 5 lakh crores: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

Issuance of E-passports will be rolled out in 2022-23 to enhance convenience for citizens, says Nirmala Sitharaman

To better the access to quality mental health counseling and care services, a National Tele Mental Health program will be launched: Nirmala Sitharaman

100 cargo terminals announcement, positive for logistics sector

100 Cargo terminal – 100 gatishakti Cargo terminal to be developed in the next 3 years, positive for logistics sector, saud Yash Gupta- Equity Research Analyst, Angel One Ltd.

Desh stack e-portal to be launched to promote digital infra, says FM

Big push on Agritech in the budget

Big push on agritech in the budget with focus of using tech for crop assessment, better spray of nutrients using drones and digitization of land records. Agritech startups working on inputs, better farm linkages and financing will gain from this support from the government for better adoption of products by the farmers, said Neha Khanna, Director, ValPro, startup.

PM development initiatives for North East will be implemented for the North Eastern Council: Nirmala Sitharaman

An open platform for the National Digital Health Ecosystem will be rolled out, says Nirmala Sitharaman

Our govt has comprehensively revamped schemes of the Ministry of Women and Child Development such as Mission Shakti, Mission Vatsalya, Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 to provide benefits: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

States will be encouraged to revise syllabi of agricultural universities to meet needs of natural, zero-budget & organic farming, modern-day agriculture, says Sitharaman

PM Gati Shakti Master Plan for Expressways to be formulated in 2022-23, to facilitate faster movement of people and goods, says Nirmala Sitharaman

‘One class, one TV channel’ program of PM eVIDYA will be expanded from 12 to 200 TV channels, says Nirmala Sitharaman

MSMEs such as Udyam,e-shram, NCS & Aseem portals will be interlinked,their scope will be widened… They will now perform as portals with live organic databases providing G-C, B-C & B-B services such as credit facilitation, enhancing entrepreneurial opportunities: Nirmala Sitharaman

Chemical-free natural farming will be promoted throughout the country with a focus on farmers’ land in 5 km wide corridors along the river Ganga, in the first stage: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

Procurement of wheat in Rabi season 2021-22 and the estimated procurement of paddy in Kharif season 2021-22 will give cover 1208 lakh metric tonnes of wheat & paddy from 163 lakh farmers& Rs 2.37 lakh crores will be the direct payment of MSP value to their accounts: FM Sitharaman

400 new generation Vande Bharat trains with better efficiency to be brought in during the next 3 years; 100 PM Gati Shakti Cargo terminals to be developed during next 3 years and implementation of innovative ways for building metro systems…: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

Strategic transfer of Air India ownership has been completed; strategic buyers for NINL have been selected, says Sitharaman

Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for achieving Aatmanirbhar Bharat has received an excellent response, with potential to create 60 lakh new jobs and additional production of 30 lakh crore during next Keycap digit five years: Nirmala Sitharaman

This Union Budget seeks to lay foundation & give blueprint of economy over ‘Amrit Kal’ of next 25 years – from India at 75 to India at 100: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

Virtuous cycle of investment expected to revive on the back of capex and crowd in private investment: Nirmala Sitharaman

Big private investment in infra would be guided by Gati Shakti: Nirmala Sitharaman

We are in the midst of the Omicron wave, the speed of our vaccination campaign has helped greatly. I am confident that ‘Sabka Prayaas’, we’ll continue with strong growth: FM Sitharaman

There was a sharp increase in public investment & capital expenditure in Budget 2021-22…This Budget (2022-23) will benefit, youth, women, farmers, SC, ST… ; shall be guided by PM Gati Shakti master plan: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

We are in the midst of the Omicron wave, the speed of our vaccination campaign has helped greatly. I am confident that ‘Sabka Prayaas’, we’ll continue with strong growth: FM Sitharaman

India’s growth is estimated to be at 9.27%, says Nirmala Sitharaman

Will FPIs be given concessions?

The economic survey tabled in parliament yesterday projected growth for FY’23 at 8-8.5%. It said the key growth drivers for the economy would be supply-side reforms, CAPEX, and exports. It said the government would be able to attain its fiscal deficit target while continuing to support growth. The focus today will be on the union budget. The FM will present the budget at 11 am. The focus will be on the gross borrowing number (exp 13 lakh crs) and whether FPIs are given concessions on the tax front for investing in bonds (which can facilitate bond index inclusion).

Nirmala Sitharaman presents Budget in Lok Sabha

Union Cabinet approves Budget

Nirmala Sitharaman arrives at the Parliament

After the Budget presentation in Parliament, Nirmala Sitharaman will address a press conference at 3.45pm

Budget copies arrives at Parliament

Nirmala Sitharaman, along with Ministers of State for Finance, meets President Ram Nath Kovind

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman arrives at Rashtrapati Bhavan

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman leaves from the Ministry of Finance

Nirmala Sitharaman arrives at ministry of finance ahead of budget presentation

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present an inclusive budget, in line with each and every sectors’ needs: MoS Finance Pankaj Chaudhary

MoS Finance Pankaj Chaudhary and Bhagwat Karad arrive at Ministry of Finance

MoS Finance Bhagwat Karad offers prayers at his residence

Nirmala Sitharaman to present Union Budget 2022-23 today

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present Union Budget for the year 2022-23 in parliament today at 11 am. The budget session of Parliament began on Monday with the address by President Ram Nath Kovind to both Houses in the Central Hall.

What is the Union Budget?

Did you know the Constitution does not mention the term “budget”? Then what is it referred to as? It is referred to as the Annual Financial Statement in Article 112 of the Constitution. The Annual Financial Statement is a detailed statement of the estimated receipts and expenditures of the government for that year.
According to the Union Budget, the financial year runs from 1 April of the present year to 31 March of the next year.

Why is the Budget important?

The Union Budget provides direction to the government’s economic policy, allocates money to ministries for their spending and broadly outlines tax proposals for the coming year.

Economic Survey

A day before the Budget presentation, an Economic Survey is taken up for the year gone by. The documentation plays an important role in offering a framework for the Budget. The preparation of the Budget is largely contributed by the various departments of the Finance Ministry.

Budget 2022 to be paperless

For the first time ever, the Budget will be paperless this year. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry has decided not to print copies of the Budget 2021. The Budget will be typed and available for all as a soft copy, online

Red briefcase

The briefcase held by the Finance Minister has an interesting history. Briefcase from the French word ‘bougette’ which means briefcase.
The finance minister’s briefcase contains the speech and financial papers–the latter is distributed after the speech.
The finance minister who set the trend of carrying a brief case to Parliament was R K Shanmugham Chetty who carried it on November 26, 1947
Not all finance ministers since Chetty have followed the tradition. Some of them have skipped it and preferred to carry files like former finance ministers TT Krishnamachari, and Morarji Desai.

Nirmala Sitharaman’s bahi-khaata

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman prefers to carry the red bahi-khaata. Her reasoning? ‘Modi’s government is not a suitcase government’. A year later, the bahi-khaata became tech-driven replacing the finance minister’s speech with a red cloth covered tablet. Incidentally, that marked another first for Sitharaman and Modi’s government. A paperless budget.
Covid-19 pandemic turned the Budget for 2021-22 was paperless – a first in Independent India.
Last year, the Union government also launched the ‘Union Budget Mobile App’ for lawmakers as well as general public. This app enables them to access budget-related documents easily.

First woman to present Union Budget

In 2019, Sitharaman became the second woman to have presented the budget after Indira Gandhi, who had presented the budget for the financial year 1970-71.

What happens after Budget is presented in Parliament?

After the budget speech is presented, a general discussion on the broad budgetary measures takes place. Members participating in the debate outline principles and policies underlying the budget presented.
After this discussion, Parliament usually goes into recess for about three weeks. During this recess, Departmentally Related Standing Committees (DRSCs) examine the detailed estimates of ministries’ expenditure called demands for grants. The DRSCs then submit reports on each ministry’s demands for grants. Once the DRSCs have submitted their reports, discussion and voting take place in Lok Sabha on demands for grants of various ministries. The demands which have not been voted on by the last day fixed for passing the budget are “guillotined”, ie they are voted upon together.
The demands for grants are consolidated into the Appropriation Bill. This must be passed by the Parliament to allow withdrawal of funds from the Consolidated Fund of India for the sanctioned expenditure by the government.
The Finance Bill is put to vote. The budgetary process concludes with the passage of the Finance Bill.

Know what these oft-used terms mean

Fiscal deficit: The excess of total government expenditure over total receipts is called a fiscal deficit.
Capital expenditure: It is the outflow of funds (expenditure) which creates assets or reduces liabilities. For instance, repayment of loans would be categorised as capital expenditure.
Capital receipts: These are mainly funds borrowed by the government from various sources (in India and overseas) and repayments by state governments of loans borrowed from the centre. Proceeds from disinvestment of public sector companies are also included in this category.
Revenue expenditure: It includes all such expenditure that is not classified as capital expenditure. It brings about no change in assets or liabilities. Salaries, interest payments or other administrative costs are examples of revenue expenditure. The revenue and capital classification apply to government receipts as well.
Revenue receipts: These are mostly revenues from taxes, dividends from companies owned by the government and interest payments on loans given by the government.
Capital receipts: These are mainly funds borrowed by the government from various sources (in India and overseas) and repayments by state governments of loans borrowed from the centre. Proceeds from disinvestment of public sector companies are also included in this category.

No halwa ceremony in 2022

In pre-pandemic, the halwa was given a customary stirring by the Finance Minister and then distributed to the officials. Why halwa? Simply because it is an Indian tradition to offer sweet before starting some important.
People who participate are then put in a ‘lock-in’ in the North Block for 10 days so that the contents of the Budget are not leaked before the finance minister makes the announcements.
Last year, employees were not kept in the North Block after the halwa ceremony as the printing of the budget did not happen due to COVID-19 precautions.

‘Summary for the Cabinet’

The finance minister briefs the Union Cabinet through a ‘summary for the Cabinet’ just before presenting it in the Lok Sabha.
Finance minister presents the Budget in Lok Sabha.

Date, timing of Budget announcement changed from 2017

Until 2016, it was presented on the last day of February. From 2017, the Budget is presented on February 1 every year.
Until 1999, the Union Budget was presented at 5 pm on the last working day of February as per British era practice.
Former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha in 1999 changed the budget presentation timing to 11 am. Arun Jaitley started presenting the Union Budget on February 1 in 2017, departing from the colonial-era tradition of using the last working day of that month.

First Budget

The Budget was first introduced in India on April 7, 1860 when Scottish economist and politician James Wilson from East India Company presented it to the British Crown.

Language used to deliver Budget announcements

Until 1955, the Union Budget was presented in English. However, the Congress-led government later decided to print the Budget papers in both Hindi and English.

Budget speech

A speech can last from 90 minutes to even 120 minutes. Guess, which was the longest speech? Nirmala Sitharaman’s Budget 2020 speech was the longest in the history of independent India, which went on for two hours and 40 minutes. Inspite of the time taken, the finance minister could not finish the last two pages and had to cut it short.
In 2019, the finance minister delivered the budget speech for two hours and 17 minutes. Guess, which Finance Minister’s speech was the shortest? In 1977, the then finance minister Hirubhai M Patel, delivered the shortest budget speech of merely 800 words.

Who used most words in Budget speech?

At 18,650 words, Manmohan Singh delivered the longest Budget speech in terms of words in 1991 under the Narasimha Rao government. In 2018, then finance minister Arun Jaitley’s speech with 18,604 words was the second- longest in terms of word count. Jaitley spoke for 1 hour and 49 minutes.

Which finance minister presented the most Budgets?

Former Prime Minister Moraraji Desai holds the record of presenting the most number of budgets in the history of the country. He had presented 10 budgets during his stint as finance minister during 1962-69, followed by P Chidambaram (9), Pranab Mukherjee (8), Yashwant Sinha (8) and Manmohan Singh (6).

Railway Budget

Till 2017, railway budget and Union Budget were presented separately. After being presented separately for 92 years, the Railway budget was merged in the Union Budget in 2017 and presented together.

Printing of Budget

Till 1950, the budget was printed at Rashtrapati Bhavan until it got leaked. Then the venue of printing had to be shifted to a press at the Minto Road in New Delhi. In 1980, a government press was set up in the North Block – the seat of the finance ministry.

Iconic Budgets

The Black Budget: The 1973-74 Budget presented by Yashwantrao B Chavan in the Indira Gandhi government was called the Black Budget as the fiscal deficit during that year was Rs 550 crore. It was a time when India was going through acute financial distress.
Carrot & Stick Budget: The Union Budget presented by VP Singh for the Congress government on February 28, 1986, was the first step towards dismantling licence raj in India. It was called the ‘Carrot and Stick’ budget as it offered both rewards and punishment. It introduced MODVAT (Modified Value Added Tax) credit for lowering the cascading effect of tax that consumers had to pay while also launching an intense drive against smugglers, black marketers, and tax evaders.
Epochal budget: Manmohan Singh’s landmark 1991 budget under the PV Narasimha Rao government that ended licence raj and began the era of economic liberalisation, is known as ‘Epochal Budget’. Presented at a time when India was on the brink of an economic collapse, it among other things slashed customs duty from 220 percent to 150 percent and took steps to promote exports.
Dream Budget: P Chidambaram in the 1997-98 budget used the Laffer Curve principle to lower tax rates to increase collections. He slashed maximum marginal income tax rate for individuals from 40 per cent to 30 per cent and that for domestic companies to 35 per cent besides unleashing a number of major tax reforms including a voluntary disclosure of income scheme to recover black money. Referred to as the ‘Dream Budget’, it also slashed customs duty to 40 per cent and simplified excise duty structure.
Millennium Budget: Yashwant Sinha’s Millennium Budget in 2000 laid the road map for the growth of India’s Information Technology (IT) industry as it phased out incentives on software exporters and lowered customs duty on 21 items such as the computer and computer accessories.
Rollback Budget: Yashwant Sinha’s 2002-03 budget for the NDA government headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee is popularly remembered as the Rollback Budget as several proposals in it were withdrawn or rolled back.
Once-in-a-Century Budget: Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1, 2021 presented what she called was ‘once-in-a-century budget’ as it looked to revive Asia’s third-largest economy via investing in infrastructure and healthcare while relying on an aggressive privatisation strategy and robust tax collections.

Finance ministers read out rhymes, shaayari, couplets

In 2021, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman invoked legendary poets by including their verses in her Budget speech. Towards the beginning, Sitharaman read out a couplet by Rabindranath Tagore: “Faith is the bird that feels the light/and sings when the dawn is still dark.”
The lines are from Tagore’s poem titled Fireflies, translated from bilingual Lekhan (1926).
“A King/Ruler is the one who creates and acquires wealth,/protects and distributes it for common good.”—That is from the classic Tamil text penned by Thiruvalluvar.
Arun Jaitley recited a tongue-in-cheek comment aimed at the UPA in 2015 with these lines from a Hindi poem: “Kuch to gul khilaye hai, kuch abhi khilaane hai, par baagh mein ab bhi kaante kuch purane hain.”

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