The complete budget for the fiscal year 2024-25 will be unveiled once the new government is formed after the general elections. The interim Union Budget 2024, which will serve as a temporary measure, is scheduled to be presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1. Unlike previous years when the budget was announced at the end of February, the Union Budget presentation has been consistently held on February 1 for the past few years.
The budget presentation on February 1st, 2017 marked a significant departure from tradition. Since its inception, the budget had always been presented on the last day of February. However, the decision to change the date was not arbitrary; it served a specific purpose. Prior to this change, there was a challenge in implementing the budget’s provisions for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins on April 1st. By presenting the budget on the last day of February, there was limited time to prepare for the new policies and reforms that would come into effect on April 1st. To address this issue, the budget presentation was shifted to February 1st, allowing the government more time to prepare for the upcoming fiscal year.
In addition to addressing the timing issue, the change in the budget presentation date also aimed to discontinue a tradition that originated during the British colonial era. This tradition involved presenting a separate budget for the Railways. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley decided to combine the Union Budget and the Railways Budget, aligning with the announcement made earlier.
Furthermore, it is worth noting that the timing of the budget presentation has also undergone a change. Until 1999, the budget used to be presented at 5 pm. However, the NDA government, led by Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha, altered this tradition and shifted the timing to 11 am. This change was made to align with the historical practice during British India, where the budget was presented in Britain at 11 am local time, which corresponded to 5 pm in India. Since then, the budget has been presented every year at 11 am.