Union Budget 2024: Sitharaman Second Finance Minister To Present Budget 6 Times In A Row

Union Budget 2024: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is all set to achieve a milestone by presenting her sixth consecutive budget comprising five annual budgets and one interim budget. This achievement reflects the historic achievement of former Prime Minister Morarji Desai.

Budget 2024 date

With the presentation of the interim budget on February 1, Sitharaman will surpass the record of his predecessors Manmohan Singh, Arun Jaitley, P Chidambaram and Yashwant Sinha, who presented five budgets in a row. Desai presented five annual budgets and one interim budget between 1959-1964 as Finance Minister.

After the Modi government came to power in 2014, Arun Jaitley took charge of the finance ministry and presented five consecutive budgets from 2014-15 to 2018-19.

It was in 2017, that Jaitley abandoned the colonial-era tradition of presenting the budget on the 1st of the month from the last working day of February.

Piyush Goyal, who took additional charge of the ministry due to Jaitley's ill health, presented the interim budget for 2019–20 on 1 February 2019. Goyal added that the standard deduction for salaried taxpayers is Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 50,000 was increased. Also, taxpayers whose annual taxable income is Rs. 5 lakh not exceeding tax rebate of Rs. 2,500 to Rs. 12,500 has been made.

After the 2019 general elections, in the Modi 2.0 government, Sitharaman was given the charge of the finance portfolio. She became the second woman to present a budget after Indira Gandhi, who presented the budget for the financial year 1970-71. That year, Sitharaman did away with the traditional budget briefcase and instead went for a 'book-book' with the national symbol to carry speeches and other documents. Under Sitharaman, India has tackled the Covid pandemic with a series of pro-poor policy measures announced and continues to tag the world's fastest-growing major economy and a 'bright spot'.

India is on track to become USD 5 trillion by 2027-28 and USD 30 trillion by 2047.

Former prime minister Morarji Desai, who holds the tag of presenting 10 budgets - the maximum by any finance minister - in a row, including an interim one, presented six of them. The first budget of independent India was presented by the first Finance Minister RK Sanmukham Chetty.

Sitharaman, who will present the sixth consecutive budget, is expected to take some steps to boost the rural sector in particular as the growth of the agriculture sector is projected to decline from 4 per cent to 1.8 per cent in 2023-24. , in the previous year.

Interim Budget 2024

The interim budget 2024-25, to be presented by Sitharaman on February 1, will be a vote-on-account that will give the government spending powers until a new government is in power after the April-May general elections. With parliamentary elections due, Sitharaman's interim budget may not contain any major policy changes. Speaking at an industry event last month, Sitharaman ruled out any "dramatic announcement" in the interim budget, saying it would be a vote-on-account ahead of the general elections.

The vote-on-account, once approved by Parliament, will authorize the government to withdraw money from the Consolidated Fund of India on a pro-rata basis to meet expenditure for the April-July period.

The new government, which is likely to be formed around June, will come up with the final budget for 2024-25 in July.

Generally, interim budgets do not contain major policy announcements, but nothing stops the government from taking necessary measures to address pressing issues facing the economy.