Interim Budget 2024: 10 Fun Facts About India¡¯s Budget History That You Might Not Know

India's first and only full time female Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to present the interim budget on February 1. This will be the BJP-led govt's last union budget presentation before the nation goes into Lok Sabha elections in April-May 2024, thus, making this a key event for both the govt as well as the taxpayers.

However, our country has witnessed a number of iconic budgets and unique moments in its history since independence, which are seldom talked about. So let us break them down some fun facts which you should know as India gears up to FM Sitharaman's interim budget 2024 presentation.

10 Fun Facts About India¡¯s Budget History

nirmala sitharaman budget/ani

1. A Scottish presented India's first-ever Budget

James Wilson/businesstoday

Many of us are unaware that it was a Scottish man named James Wilson who presented the first ever budget of India in the year 1860, i.e. much before the independence. He is also the man who introduced income tax concept in India.

2. India's second Finance Minister did not read out the Budget

John Mathai, who was India's second Finance Minister, is said to have delivered India's most plain budget speech ever. He had reportedly decided to not read out the union budget and asked the members to circulate a White Paper including all details for reading.

3.Morarji Desai has presented the most number of budgets

While this will FM Nirmala Sitharaman's sixth budget presentation since 2019, the most number of budgets presented as India's FM is a record that remains with the country's Former Prime Minister Morarji Desai, who had presented it ten times.

Also Read: Meet Nirmala Sitharaman's Team Behind Interim Budget 2024

4. The 'black' budget of 1973

yashwantrao b. chavan indira gandhi/oldindianphotos

The 1973 Union Budget is widely referred as a 'Black' one. Click here to know why.

5. The 'dream' budget of 1997

1997's union budget that was presented by former Finance Minister P Chidambaram is known as the 'Dream Budget', thanks to its roadmap for big reforms. 1997's dream budget had introduced measures that put India on the world map, such as lowering of the maximum marginal income tax rate for individuals to 30% from 40%, and peak customs duty getting slashed from 50% to 40%, besides the simplification of the excise duty structure.

p chidambaram budget/mint

6. Two FMs Who Became Presidents

Pranab Mukherjee and R Venkataraman have been the only two finance ministers who later went on to become Presidents of India.

7.Only two woman have presented Budget

sitharaman budget/pti

The two women who have presented the Budget for India are late prime minister Indira Gandhi (1970-71) and Nirmala Sitharaman (2019-present).

8. Three PMs presented budgets

Three Prime Ministers of India- Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi presented the Budget while serving as PM.

9. The 'carrot and stick' budget of 1986

The initial move towards eliminating license raj in India was made with the Union budget that VP Singh submitted for the Congress government on February 28, 1986. The 'Carrot and Stick' budget got its name because it included both incentives and penalties. It also initiated a vigorous campaign against tax evaders, black marketers, and smugglers. In order to reduce the cascading effect of taxes that consumers had to pay, it introduced the MODVAT (Modified Value Added Tax) credit.

10. Longest ever budget speeches

manmohan singh budget/cnbc

In terms of the number of words the record of the longest budget speech is held by Manmohan Singh who used 18,650 words while presenting the budget in 1991. On the other hand, the 2020 Union Budget presented by Nirmala Sitharaman is the longest budget speech in India's history, spanning for 2 hours and 42 minutes.

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