Modi 3.0 Set To Table Its First Budget, Here's The Process That Goes Behind It

his Tuesday, the much-awaited full budget for 2024-25 and the first under the Modi 3.0 government will be tabled in Parliament. All eyes will be on the major announcements made by the finance minister and the government's forward-looking guidance about the overall economy.

With this upcoming budget presentation, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will surpass the record set by former Prime Minister Morarji Desai, who presented five annual budgets and one interim budget between 1959 and 1964 as finance minister. Sitharaman's upcoming budget speech will be her seventh. Sitharaman has surpassed Manmohan Singh, Arun Jaitley, P. Chidambaram, and Yashwant Sinha, who each presented five budgets.

The budget session of Parliament will begin on 22 July and, according to schedule, will end on 12 August. Putting aside the details of the upcoming budget, let us review the budget-making process and sequence of events typically followed.

The Ministry of Finance typically issues circulars to all ministries, Union territories, States, and autonomous entities to send their demands and recommendations for the Union budget around September-October, with budgets typically tabled on 1 February.

Subsequently, ministries and departments submit their budget estimates, outlining their expenditure requirements and revenue projections for the upcoming financial year.

The finance ministry and the finance minister arrange pre-budget meetings with various stakeholders to get their views and demands for the budget. These meetings are held with state representatives, bankers, agriculturists, economists, trade unions, and MSMEs, among others. As part of the budget preparation, the Finance Ministry this year completed several rounds of deliberations with different stakeholders of the economy. These meetings started on 20 June this year.

Another key event before the budget presentation is the 'halwa ceremony'. A few days before the budget is presented, the government has a tradition of conducting a 'halwa ceremony', marking the start of budget document printing.

This year, the Halwa ceremony, marking the final stage of the budget preparation process for the full budget of 2024-25, was held in North Block on July 16 in the presence of Finance Minister Sitharaman, Minister of State Pankaj Chaudhary, and secretaries. Officers and staff involved in the budget preparation and compilation process were also present on the occasion.

The Halwa ceremony is significant as it also marks the beginning of a lockdown at the finance ministry, meaning no official is allowed to leave the ministry compound. Everyone on the budget team is allowed to leave only after the financial document is presented in Parliament. The printing of the Union Budget inside the basement located in the North Block has been a permanent feature since 1980.

A day before the budget is scheduled to be tabled, the government typically releases its economic survey which serves as a crucial input for budget formulation. It is prepared by the Chief Economic Advisor and provides an overview of the country's economic performance, prospects, and policy recommendations, including future outlook. On the first day of the budget session, the finance minister presents the economic survey before Parliament, offering insights into the state of the economy.

The economic survey may also give some idea about the tone and texture of the actual budget for 2023-24, to be presented on Tuesday. The first Economic Survey reportedly came into existence in 1950-51, when it used to be a part of the budget documents. In the 1960s, it was separated from the budget documents and presented a day prior to the budget.

Many will be looking out for the central theme of the economic survey. The finance ministry analyses the revenue projections, including tax receipts and non-tax revenue, to assess the government's revenue potential.

On budget day, Tuesday, the Finance Minister will present the Union Budget in the Lok Sabha at 11 am. The budget speech will outline the government's fiscal policies, revenue and expenditure proposals, taxation reforms, and other significant announcements.

The budget is then subjected to detailed debate and discussion in both houses of Parliament, allowing members to scrutinise its provisions, raise concerns, and propose amendments. Following its presentation and approval by Parliament, the Union Budget sets in motion a series of post-budget activities aimed at implementing its provisions and achieving the outlined objectives.

On the morning of budget day, the finance minister will go to the North Block, where the Ministry of Finance is housed. She will meet the secretaries of her ministry, and later, along with them, she will reach the President's residence to get permission before presenting the Budget. Half an hour before the budget is presented, a Cabinet meeting headed by the prime minister is usually held, where ministers are briefed about the budget and Cabinet approval is taken.

Like the previous few full Union budgets, the budget 2024 will also be delivered in paperless form. An Interim Union Budget 2024 was presented on 1 February, as the country was due for general elections later in the year.

The interim budget, tabled on 1 February, took care of the financial needs of the intervening period until a government was formed after the Lok Sabha polls, after which a full budget was to be presented by the new government.(ANI)