Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tabled the interim budget in Parliament, marking her sixth Budget as the finance minister and the final one in the second term of the Modi government.
In keeping with tradition, Sitharaman, along with Ministers of State Bhagwat Karad and Pankaj Chaudhary, first called on President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhawan ahead of the parliamentary presentation on Thursday morning.
Prior to her speech in Parliament, Sitharaman arrived at the finance ministry, notably carrying the Budget document in paperless form within a red-colored ‘bahi khata.’ Over the past three years, a new tradition has emerged, with the finance minister presenting budget documents in electronic form within a ‘bahi khata.’
The interim budget aims to address the financial needs during the intervening period until a new government is formed after the Lok Sabha polls, after which a full budget will be presented.
With this presentation, Sitharaman will equal the record set by former Prime Minister Morarji Desai, who, as finance minister, presented five annual budgets and one interim budget between 1959 and 1964.
The Budget session of Parliament began with President Droupadi Murmu’s joint address to Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. In her speech, the President highlighted the historic year 2023 for India, emphasizing the country’s sustained momentum as the fastest-growing major economy.
“The year 2023 was a historic year for India when it grew the fastest among major economies despite the global crisis. India grew about 7.5 per cent for two consecutive quarters,” she stated.
According to a Ministry of Finance review report, India’s economy is projected to grow close to 7 percent in the financial year 2024-25. In the previous financial year 2022-23, the Indian economy expanded by 7.2 percent, and in 2021-22, it grew by 8.7 percent. The expected growth for the current financial year 2023-24 is 7.3 percent, maintaining India’s position as the fastest-growing major economy.
In the last full Budget of Modi government 2.0, the capital expenditure outlay was proposed to increase by 33 percent to Rs 10 lakh crore in 2023-24, constituting 3.3 percent of the GDP—nearly three times the outlay in 2019-20.
(Inputs from ANI)