Budget 2023: Squad responsible for preparing the budget

The Union Budget 2023 has been presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.  Though the union minister is the face of the budget, yet it requires a significant amount of team work in preparing budget as it impacts every sector and individual of the country at a large scale.  Here is a look at the core members responsible for carrying out the budget:

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

The finances of the government have traditionally been controlled by the Ministry of Finance. The Second woman Finance Minister after Indira Gandhi, Sitharaman took charge as Finance Minister in 2019 when the country was already slowing down. The uncertainties during her tenure have been much worse than than her predecessors P Chidambaram and Pranab Mukherjee, which made her job more difficult.

T V Somanathan

T V Somanathan is the finance secretary in the government, the senior-most officer in the finance ministry. He is also in charge of the finance ministry’s expenditure department. Before taking charge finance secretary, he was an additional secretary and joint secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office.

Ajay Seth

Ajay Seth is the secretary of the finance ministry’s economic affairs department designated with a core position in deciding budget as Ajay Seth is the secretary of the finance ministry’s economic affairs department.

Tuhin Kanta Pandey

Tuhin Kanta Pandey is the secretary of the finance ministry’s DIPAM (Department of Investment and Public Asset Management). He is a 1987-batch IAS officer from Odisha cardre.  He was responsible for Major disinvestments like LIC and Air India.

Sanjay Malhotra

Sanjay Malhotra in December 2022 took charge as the finance ministry’s revenue secretary. He is a 1990-batch IAS officer of the Rajasthan cadre. Malhotra was working as an officer on special duty in the revenue department since October 2022.

Vivek Joshi

Vivek Joshi is the secretary of the finance ministry’s Department of Financial Services (DFS). The department is responsible for functioning of banks, financial institutions, insurance companies and NPS.  A 1989-batch IAS officer of Haryana cadre, Joshi was earlier the Registrar General and Census Commissioner under the Ministry of Home Affairs.

V Anantha Nageswaran

V Anantha Nageswaran is the chief economic advisor of the government.  Nageswaran spearheaded  the drafting of the Economic Survey for 2022-23. Nageswaran has served as a part-time member of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council from 2019 to 2021.