{"id":3094,"date":"2022-01-24T12:18:03","date_gmt":"2022-01-24T12:18:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.paytmmoney.com\/blog\/?p=3094"},"modified":"2022-01-25T10:16:01","modified_gmt":"2022-01-25T10:16:01","slug":"union-budget-a-look-at-its-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.paytmmoney.com\/blog\/union-budget-a-look-at-its-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Union Budget: Here\u2019s A Look At Its History"},"content":{"rendered":"

D-Street will be keeping an eye on the Union Budget, which will be presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1st. There is an expectation that the government will announce measures to aid recovery of the economy, which was hurt by the pandemic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s take a look at the history and some interesting facts about the Budget.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Budget is classified into <\/span>Revenue budget<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>Capital Budget<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The<\/span> Revenue Budget details the government\u2019s revenue receipts and expenditure.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There are two kinds of revenue receipts, 1) Tax and 2) Non-tax. If revenue expenditure exceeds revenue receipts then there is a <\/span>revenue deficit<\/span><\/i>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

The Capital Budget<\/span> lays out the capital receipts and payments by the government.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The bulk of capital receipts are loans from the public, foreign governments and RBI. They also include capital expenditure on education, health services and facilities, development of machinery, buildings etc. A <\/span>fiscal deficit<\/span><\/i> is when the government’s total expenditure exceeds total revenue.<\/span><\/p>\n

1. <\/strong>The beginnings<\/b><\/h2>\n

Budget has been derived from \u201cBougette\u201d which is a french word\u00a0 which means a small leather bag. As per Article 112 of the Indian Constitution, the Union Budget is an <\/span>annual financial report of the country of the upcoming financial year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The first budget was introduced in India by <\/span>Scottish economist <\/span>James Wilson from the East India Company to the British Crown on April 7, 1860<\/span><\/p>\n

2. Where is the Budget printed?<\/b><\/h2>\n

Till 1950, the Budget used to be printed at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. But following a leak, the government was forced to move the budget printing to a press at Minto road. Later, the printing venue was shifted to North Block in 1980.<\/span><\/p>\n

3. What is an interim Budget?\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n

An Interim budget denotes a short-term budget, which is presented just before the Lok Sabha elections are held in April-May.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In an election year, the full budget is usually presented in July, after the new government takes over.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

During the Union Budget 1948-1949, Finance minister R.K. Shanmukham Chetty used the term <\/span>Interim Budget<\/span><\/i> for the first time. It later became an institutional process for each year the General Elections were held.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

4. Budget in Hindi<\/b><\/h2>\n

Initially, the budget document used to be published only in English. However, from 1955-1956, the government began publishing the document in Hindi as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

5. Merger with Railway Budget<\/b><\/h2>\n

In 2017, the Railway Budget was merged with the Union Budget, instead of announcing the two separately. This ended a practice that had started in 1924, where the Railway Budget was presented a day or two before the Union Budget.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

6. Halwa Ceremony<\/b><\/h2>\n

There is an Indian tradition of eating something sweet before commencing an important task, for good luck. The same tradition is also followed to begin the printing of the Union Budget as well. The Halwa Ceremony typically starts 10 days before the budget, held in the Ministry of Finance\u2019s North Block. Halwa (a sweet dish) is prepared and served at the venue to the officers and support staff.<\/span><\/p>\n

7. Departure from tradition<\/b><\/h2>\n

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman made a shift in 2019 where she started carrying budget documents in a traditional red cloth (Bahi Khata) instead of a briefcase.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2021, the Budget was presented in a paperless version for the first time, to prevent the spread of COVID-19 infections.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Some trivia<\/b><\/h3>\n