India: FM Sitharaman presents historic seventh consecutive Union Budget in paperless format

New Delhi: While Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to present her seventh budget, the monsoon session of Parliament begins on July 22.

By presenting this year’s budget, Sitharaman becomes the first finance minister to present seven consecutive budgets, breaking the record of Morarji Desai, who presented six budgets.

Desai, who served as the country’s finance minister from 1959 to 1964, presented a record six budgets for the country, of which five were full budgets and one was an interim budget.

Like the previous few full Union Budgets, Budget 2024 will also be delivered in paperless form. An Interim Union Budget 2024 was presented on February 1, as the country was set to hold general elections.

As part of budget preparation, the Ministry of Finance has completed several rounds of consultations with various stakeholders in the economy.

These meetings began on June 20, during which Sitharaman met representatives from trade unions, education and health sectors, employment and training, SMEs, trade and services, manufacturing, economists, financial sector and capital markets, as well as representatives from infrastructure, energy and urban sectors.

During the meetings, economists discussed a number of key issues, such as increasing capital spending and reducing the budget deficit.

The group of economists suggested the ministry to focus on reducing the budget deficit and at the same time creating employment in the upcoming budget.
The industry body, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), suggested that the government increase capital expenditure in the upcoming budget. The economists also stressed on the need to increase capital expenditure.

Farmers’ associations urged the Finance Minister to increase the budgetary allocation for the agricultural sector. Representatives from the education and employment sectors suggested ways to educate the youth for better utilization of the labor force.

This year’s monsoon session will have 19 sittings till August 12. The Modi government is expected to introduce six bills, including the Aircraft Bill and parliamentary approval for the Jammu and Kashmir budget.

The government will also bring out the Finance Bill after the budget is announced on July 23. Besides other bills, the Disaster Management Bill, Bhartiya Vayuyan Vidheyak 2024, Boiler Bill, Coffee (Promotion and Development) Bill and Rubber (Promotion and Development) Bill will be tabled during this year’s monsoon session.

The Bhartiya Vayuyan Vidheyak, 2024, replaces the Aircraft Act, 1934 and streamlines regulations in the civil aviation sector, to support industry players.

The interim budget, tabled on February 1, provided for the financial needs in the interim period until a government was formed after the Lok Sabha elections. After that, the new government would present a full budget in July.

The Union budget documents are available via the Union Budget Mobile App, making them easy for Members of Parliament and the public to access.

The app is bilingual (English and Hindi) and is available on both Android and iOS platforms. The app can also be downloaded from the Union Budget Web Portal (www.indiabudget.gov.in).