Budget 2021: Interesting Facts About Indian Budget And How It Changed Over The Years

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is all set to present the first Union Budget of the decade tomorrow. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had earlier promised a “never before” like Union Budget as the government looks to steer the pandemic-battered economy and push growth. While investment in health, medical Research & Development (R&D) and developing greater skills to handle telemedicine is going to be critical, livelihood challenges would have to be seen in a newer canvas with newer perspective on vocational training and skill development. Also Read – Over 2400km New Lines And 6000km Electrification: Indian Railways Sets Target For 2021-22 | Details Here

Indian Budget is the largest budget in the world. The budget is prepared by the concerned department of economic affairs of the Ministry of Finance on an annual basis. Here are some unknown facts about the Union Budget: Also Read – Kiren Rijiju Says Budget Allocated For Sports Could be Revised if Needed

Budget Fact 1: Morarji Desai has presented 10 Union Budgets in Parliament which is the highest by a single finance minister followed by P Chidambaram with nine budgets Also Read – Budget For 1% Population, Govt Snatched Money From Workers, Farmers & Forces: Rahul Gandhi

Budget Fact 2: The word BUDGET is derived from ‘bougette’ which means small bag in French.

Budget Fact 3: The first ever Indian budget was presented by James Wilson, a Scottish economist and politician in 1860.

Budget Fact 4:  The first independent budget of India was presented by RK Shanmukhan Chetty on November 26, 1947.

Budget Fact 5: Railway and union budget was presented separately till 2017 after which they merged into a single presentation.

Budget Fact 6: In 2001, the then Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha changed it to 11 am . Until 2000, the budget was presented at 5 pm on the last working day of February.

Budget Fact 7: In 2014, Arun Jaitley delivered the longest budget speech– 2.5 hours– in 2014.

Budget Fact 8:  Until 1955, the Union Budget was presented in English. After that year, the Congress-led government decided to print the Budget papers in both Hindi and English.

Budget Fact 9: In 2019, Sitharaman ditched the traditional Budget briefcase, instead, she carried a Red packet with the National Emblem wrapped with a ribbon.

Budget Fact 10: Indira Gandhi was the first woman finance minister to present the Budget in 1970