Budget 2024: What's the reason behind the shift in Budget date from February 28 to February 1?

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to present the Interim Budget for the fiscal year 2024-25 on February 1st in Parliament, a departure from the historical tradition of presenting the budget at the end of February.

From Colonial Practice to Modernization:

The change in the budget presentation date was initiated by former Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in 2017, aiming to move away from the colonial-era practice of presenting the budget on the last working day of February. This shift was crucial to enable smoother implementation of budget provisions for the upcoming financial year, starting on April 1st.

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Jaitley's Reforms

Jaitley's decision not only altered the budget date but also marked the end of a 92-year-old British practice of presenting a separate Railway Budget, integrating it into the Union Budget.

Additionally, the timing of the budget presentation also underwent a transformation. Traditionally, the budget was presented at 5 pm, a practice inherited from British-India. However, in 1999, then Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha proposed presenting the budget at 11 am. The rationale behind this change was to allow more time for comprehensive analysis, leading to better-informed debates and discussions.

Since the approval of this proposal, the Union Budget has been presented at 11 am every year, diverging from the longstanding British tradition and ushering in a new era in Independent India's budgetary processes.