Union Budget 2024: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman arrives at the North Block of the parliament as she is all set to present the Interim Budget 2024 in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, 1 February, the second day of the ongoing Budget Session of Parliament.
This will be FM Sitharaman’s sixth budget in a row – five annual budgets and one interim budget.
The interim budget – a short-term financial plan – seeks Parliament nod for a grant in advance to meet the government’s essential expenditure for the first four months of the new financial year.
By reading out the Budget for FY 2024-25, Sitharaman will surpass the record of her predecessors such as Arun Jaitley, Manmohan Singh, P Chidambaram, and Yashwant Sinha, all of whom presented five Budgets in Parliament.
Union Finance Minister, along with Ministers of State Dr. Bhagwat Kishanrao Karad, Pankaj Chaudhary and other senior officials of the Ministry of Finance also met President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan before the Interim Budget presentation today.
Despite the fact that this is an interim budget and Sitharaman has already made it clear that there won’t be any “spectacular announcements” in this Budget, there is a buzz in the air because the government may opt for quick measures to provide relief to the common man in some form, as that would work in its favour ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s Budget speech will be telecasted live on the official channel of Parliament Sansad TV and Doordarshan.
The interim Budget 2024 can be accessed in a “paperless form” through the Union Budget Mobile App, which can be downloaded on Android, iOS, or from the Union Budget Web Portal (www.indiabudget.gov.in). This Government of India app will provide all essential Budget documents, including the Annual Financial Statement, Demand for Grants, and the Finance Bill as mandated by the Constitution.
Economic Survey, an annual document presented by the Finance Ministry, will not be presented this year since it is the Interim Budget instead of a full-fledged budget because Lok Sabha elections are due later this year.
