When & Why Was India's Budget Date Changed From February 28 To February 1?

India¡¯s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to present the Union Budget in February, 2024. Since this year will witness Lok Sabha elections getting conducted, it will be an interim budget instead of a full budget, with the latter set to take place in July 2024 by whoever forms the new government.

While we all know that the budget will be presented on February 1st, this has not been the case in every year. Until a few years back, the budget used to be presented on the last of February, whether it turned out to be 28th or 29th February.

When Was Union Budget Date Changed?

nirmala sitharaman/pti

In 2017, former Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had declared that the Union Budget would no longer be presented February's final working day, whether it was 28 or 29th Feb. Instead, February 1st was chosen as the date for presenting the Budget every year, a practice which has since then been followed every year.

Why Was The Budget Date Changed?

Former FM Arun Jaitley, in an effort to discontinue a tradition that dated back more than ninety decades, declared in 2017 that the budget would be presented on February 1 rather than the last day February. This was done during the British colonial era. Additionally, Jaitley had noted that the government had very little time to get ready for the new policies and changes that would go into effect from new financial year (April 1) if the budget was presented at the end of February.

arun jaitely budget/mint

As a result, the budget presentation was rescheduled for February 1. Also, Jaitley did away with the custom of presenting a separate budget for the railways, a practice which again dated back to the British colonial era. The Union Budget and the Railways Budget were then combined.

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

What Was The Reason For Budget Timing Change?

Besides the date change that happened in 2017, the Union Budget's timing too was changed much before the date one. In the year 1999, Yashwant Sinha, the then Finance minister of India, changed the timing from 5 pm to to 11 am. Since then, the budget was presented on last working day of February, at 11 am, and then after 2017's announcement by Jaitely, the date too changed to February 1.

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