Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to make history by presenting her seventh Union Budget in Parliament, surpassing the previous record held by former finance minister Morarji Desai, who presented six budgets. Desai served as finance minister under Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi before becoming Prime Minister himself in 1977.
The tradition of the Union Budget began with then finance minister RK Shanmugam Chetty, who presented independent India’s first budget on November 26, 1947, amounting to ₹197.1 crore. This figure has grown exponentially, reaching ₹47.65 lakh crore in the last financial year.
Historically, the budget was presented at 5 pm, a practice changed by finance minister Yashwant Sinha in 1999 to the current 11 am slot.
Data from the Lok Sabha secretariat reveals that there have been instances where the Prime Minister, rather than the finance minister, presented the budget. Jawaharlal Nehru presented the 1958-59 budget while temporarily handling the finance portfolio. Similarly, Indira Gandhi tabled the 1969-70 budget following the resignation of finance minister Morarji Desai. In 2019, due to the ill health of then finance minister Arun Jaitley, Piyush Goyal presented the budget.
Until 2017, the Railways had a separate budget, which was later merged with the general budget.
After the budget is presented in the Lok Sabha, it is also tabled in the Rajya Sabha. However, the Upper House does not have the authority to approve or disapprove the budget. Budget discussions are followed by debates on ministry-specific allocations or Demands for Grants, which are ultimately passed together through a process known as Guillotine.
Though the Rajya Sabha debates the budget, it does not have the power to alter or reject it. The budget is referred back to the Lok Sabha for final approval.