Budget 2024

FAQs

• What is the Union Budget?

  Budget is a detailed plan outlining the government’s projected income and expenditure for the given fiscal year which runs from April 1 to March 31. The document shows the government's economic priorities and funding allocation.

• Who presents the Union Budget?

  The Finance Minister of India presents the Union Budget. This year, Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Budget. This will be the seventh time that she will present the Budget creating a record for the most Budget speeches given as she will surpass Morarji Desai who presented the Budget six times in a row.

• Why is the Union Budget being presented in July this year?

  In recent years, the Union Budget has been presented on February 1. Owing to 2024 being an election year, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tabled the Interim Budget for FY24 on February 1. The government will therefore present the Union Budget in July this year.

• What is an Economic Survey?

  The annual Economic Survey is presented a day before the presentation of the budget. The document serves as the official report of the economy and shows the government's future policy moves. The Economic Survey is authored by the Chief Economic Adviser in the finance ministry and his team. Although, the government isn’t bound to follow recommendations made in the Economic Survey as it only serves as a policy guide.

• How is the Budget speech structured?

  The Budget speech is divided into two Parts: A and B. The first part of the Budget includes an overview of the state of the economy, policy initiatives, estimates on expenditure and fiscal deficit. Part B of the Budget contains tax proposals - direct and indirect.

• What is fiscal deficit?

  Fiscal deficit shows the amount of money that the government has to borrow every year to meet its expenses which means in terms of the Budget, it represents the difference between government’s total revenue receipts (tax and non-tax) and capital receipts such as recoveries and interests earned on loans which the Centre has given to state governments.

• What are Budget estimates and Revised estimates?

  The government details estimated earnings and spendings during the course of the year in the Budget. These estimates may change and revised estimates of revenues and expenditure are laid out in the following year’s Budget.

• When will the Railway Budget be presented?

  Since 2016, the Railway Budget has been presented with the Union Budget. At the time, then Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented the first combined Budget for the financial year 2017-18. Before this, the Railway Budget was presented separately a few days ahead of the Union Budget.

• What other Budget documents are presented in the Parliament?

  Along with the Finance Minister’s speech, some important documents are presented to the Parliament. These are: Annual financial statement, fiscal policy statements mandated under the FRBM Act, macro-economic framework statement, medium-term fiscal policy cum fiscal policy strategy statement, expenditure Budget, receipt Budget, expenditure profile, Budget at a glance, memorandum explaining the provisions in the Finance Bill and output outcome monitoring framework.

• How to access Budget 2024 speech and related documents?

  Budget 2024 speech and related documents are available on the official website – indiabudget.gov.in – after the Finance Minister finishes the Budget speech.