Budget 2024: In 10 days, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will unveil an interim Union Budget for the 2023-24 fiscal year ahead of the General Elections, forgoing major policy announcements.b For decades, budget speeches occurred on February 28th or 29th in a leap year - so why did the date change starting in 2017Why was the Budget presentation date changedThe practice of the finance minister unveiling the Budget on the last working day of February originated during the British Raj in 1860. However, this practice changed in 2017 when Arun Jaitley was the Finance Minister. This practice of presenting the budget on February 1 continued even during the pandemic. The government argued moving the date gave more lead time for ministries to prepare policies and changes for the new financial year starting April 1st based on allocated funding. Previously, the Budget would pass long after that fiscal year began.With policies finalized by April, ministries now have 2 additional months before executing new programs and schemes for that fiscal year as opposed to scrambling after Parliament clears the Budget proposals.The budget presentation is conventionally held in two parts during the Budget Session of the Parliament. The first part of the session usually starts on January 31. Colonial-era timing also updatedAnother significant change came in 1999 when the speech was moved from 5 pm to 11 am, updating the British-era timing tradition.Earlier the Union Budget was presented at 5 pm on the last working day of February. However, during the tenure of Yashwant Sinha as the Finance Minister the timing changed to 11 am.Why was this date chosen during colonial-eraBecause India was then governed by the British Parliament which would be in recess in December and January during the harsh winter.Unveiling the Budget in February gave MPs time to return from break. This colonial tradition continued until the major reform in 2017.How is the Lok Sabha election hampering Budget 2024 presentationDue to the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the February 1 budget presentation will avoid significant reforms and instead highlight government achievements.The full-scale Budget will come after the election results. Economic surveys previewing the countrys finances are now presented on January 31st.Supreme Court rejects petition claimA Supreme Court petition claimed the shift could let the ruling party use pre-election budgets for political gains, but the top court rejected it.An advocate named ML Sharma filed a petition on the Supreme Court arguing that it would give the center leverage to use it to influence the outcome of the polls with populist spending promises.However, the court today said that the Budget has nothing to do with states and elections are too frequent to delay its release.The date change brings India in line with other major economies that unveil budgets closer to the start of their financial years. Along with updated 2023 presentation timing, the modifications hope to boost efficiency and outcomes.
