Interim Budget 2024: The Parliament will hear the Interim Budget of FY 2024–25 in under nine days. On February 1, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is expected to present her budget speech. The budget used to be presented towards the end of February, at least a few years ago. However, the year-old custom of delivering the budget on February 1 was moved from February 28 by the NDA government, which is led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. As was customary during the colonial era, Arun Jaitley, the previous Union Finance Minister, announced in 2017 that the Union Budget will no longer be presented on the last working day of February.
The Union Budget, sometimes referred to as the Annual Financial Statement, is a government document that shows the anticipated costs and receipts for the next fiscal year. The Parliament is asked to approve it. When representatives of the East India Company brought this custom to India in the 1860s, it began.
Why was the date of the presentation altered?
In an effort to discontinue a tradition that dates back 92 years, Jaitely first declared that the budget would be presented on February 1 rather than the last day of the month. This was done during the British colonial era.
Additionally, he noted that the government had very little time to get ready for the new laws and reforms that would go into force on April 1 because the budget is given at the end of February. As a result, the budget presentation was rescheduled for February 1.
Furthermore, Jaitley did away with the custom of providing a separate budget for the railways, which dates back to the British colonial era. The Union Budget and the Railways Budget would be combined, the FM declared.
Additional Modifications
The Union Budget was delivered at 5 p.m. on the last day of February until 1999. This was a British-Indian custom that persisted even after independence.
Britain's local time dictated the presentation's scheduling throughout the colonial era. During that time, the British budget was unveiled at 11 a.m. (local time), which equated to 5 p.m. in India.
It was suggested later in 1999 by Yashwant Sinha, the Finance Minister in the NDA administration led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, that the Union Budget be presented at eleven a.m. This modification was made with the intention of providing enough time for a more in-depth examination of the data, which would result in talks and debates that were better informed.
Following the approval, Sinha became the first FM to present the Union Budget at 11 am in the history of Independent India. Since then, the Union Budget has been presented at 11 am every year.
Temporary Financial Plan
The budget presentation for this year will serve as a stand-in until the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and the formation of a new government, with no significant announcements made.
Like a regular budget, an interim budget is discussed and passed by the Lok Sabha. A vote-on-account, on the other hand, is passed without a lengthy debate.
A vote-on-account cannot change the tax regime under any circumstances, although an interim budget can suggest changes to the tax code. It acts as the legislature's approval for taking money out of the Consolidated Fund of India between April and June/July, or until the next government delivers its full budget.
The departing government is prohibited by the Election Commission of India's rule of conduct from enacting any significant fiscal or economic measures in order to prevent swaying voters. The Finance Minister also stated that taxpayers would have to wait until July, when the new administration takes office.
