Do you know?
Union Budget | Kerala PSC LDC
- Fact 1 of 8📜
The Constitution never says 'Budget'
The Constitution does not use the word 'Budget'. Article 112 calls it the 'Annual Financial Statement', and Kerala PSC often asks for this article number.
- Fact 2 of 8🇬🇧
India's first budget came in 1860
James Wilson presented the first budget of British India on 7 April 1860. That is why he is linked to the beginning of India's budget system.
- Fact 3 of 8🇮🇳
Independent India's first budget
R.K. Shanmukham Chetty, India's first Finance Minister, presented free India's first Union Budget on 26 November 1947.
- Fact 4 of 8🏆
Record holder for most budgets
Morarji Desai presented 10 Union Budgets, the highest by any Finance Minister. He also presented budgets on his birthday, 29 February, in leap years.
- Fact 5 of 8👩💼
Women who presented the Budget
Indira Gandhi became the first woman to present the Union Budget in 1970, while holding the finance portfolio as PM. Nirmala Sitharaman became the first full-time woman Finance Minister to do so in 2019.
- Fact 6 of 8🚆
Rail Budget merged in 2017
A separate Railway Budget began in 1924 on the Acworth Committee's advice. It was merged with the Union Budget in 2017, ending a practice of over 90 years.
- Fact 7 of 8🕚
Budget timing and date changed
Yashwant Sinha moved the budget time from 5 pm to 11 am in 1999. From 2017, the Budget date shifted from the last working day of February to 1 February.
- Fact 8 of 8🍮
The sweet start: Halwa Ceremony
Before budget documents are finalised, the Finance Ministry holds a 'Halwa Ceremony'. After it, officials involved stay in isolation until the Budget is presented, to keep it secret.
