July 23, 2024
Budget Trivia: Fascinating facts about the Indian Budget
Independent India's first-ever Budget was presented by the country's first Finance Minister RK Shanmukham Chetty on November 26, 1947.
The Union Budget for 1970-71 was the only budget presented by a woman Prime Minister, who was Indira Gandhi, the then Finance Minister as well as the Prime Minister of the country.
The longest Budget speech was delivered by FM Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1, 2020, lasting 2 hours and 40 minutes. She had to cut short her Budget speech with two pages remaining.
The Interim Budget speech by Hirubhai Mulljibhai Patel in 1977 was the shortest, with just 800 words.
Earlier, the Budget was presented at 5 pm on the last day of February. In 1999, then Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha presented the Budget at 11 am and since then, 11 am has become a norm.
In 2017, the Budget presentation date was changed to February 1 to finish Parliamentary approval by March 31 and allow its implementation from the start of the fiscal year on April 1.
The Union Budget for 1972-73 drew some criticism from puzzle enthusiasts and literature lovers as the government announced taxation on rewards won from solving crossword puzzles.
One of the most significant highlights of the Union Budget for 1973-74 was the government’s proposal to tax wealthy villagers on their non-agricultural income if it exceeded the exemption limit.
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