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Union Budget 2021: Unique facts about the Indian budget
The ministry has launched the 'Union Budget Mobile App' to make the documents available in the public domain.
Union Budget 2021 is set to be tabled by Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday at 11am. All the economic sectors as well as taxpayers are heavily expecting something fruitful from the budget that is aimed at driving the nation towards an economic recovery after a hard-hitting pandemic year.
This year's budget is supposed to be like 'no other', which includes the fact that it's the first time the finance ministry will be releasing a paper-less one. The ministry has launched the 'Union Budget Mobile App' to make the documents available in the public domain.
Here are some unique facts about the Indian budget:
1. Morarji Desai, the former prime minister and finance minister of the country, had presented 10 budgets in Parliament, which is the highest number by a single finance minister till date. P Chidambaram has presented the budget nine times.
2. Yashwant Sinha, the then finance minister in the BJP-led NDA government, had changed the ritual in 1999 by announcing the Union Budget at 11am. The Union Budget was announced at 5pm on the last working day of February until 1999. Finance minister 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.
3. The longest budget speech was delivered by Arun Jaitley in 2014. The speech lasted for 2.5 hours.
4. The word budget comes from the word 'bougette' that translates to small bag in French.
5. In 2019, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman became the second woman to have presented the budget after Indira Gandhi, who had presented the budget for the financial year 1970-71.
6. Scottish economist and politician James Wilson presented the first budget of the country in 1860.
7. RK Shanmukhan Chetty presented the first Union Budget of Independent India on November 26, 1947.
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8. In 2019, Sitharaman did away with the traditional budget briefcase and instead went for a Red packet with the National Emblem wrapped with a ribbon.
9. Till 2017, railway budget and Union Budget were presented separately. Post-2017, both the budgets are presented together.
10. The budget used to be printed only in the English language until 1955. Post that the Congress government decided to print the budget papers in Hindi and English.
11. The Union Budget of 1973-74 is termed as the 'black budget' of India as the budget deficit amounted to ₹550 crore. A deficit in the budget meant the estimated expenditure for that particular financial year was greater than the estimated revenue receipts by ₹550 crore.
12. Till 1950, the budget was presented at Rashtrapati Bhavan till it got leaked and the venue of presentation 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.
