FM Sitharaman likely to present Union Budget on Feb 1

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is likely to present the Union Budget on February 1, a Saturday, as the two-month-long Budget Session of Parliament gets underway on January 31, Parliament officials said.

President Ram Nath Kovind will address a joint sitting of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha on January 31, after which Sitharaman will table the Economic Survey in the Parliament.

The first part of the budget session will begin on January 31 and continue till February 7 after which the Parliament will break for a three-week recess to examine the budget documents.

The second part of the budget session will begin on March 2 and continue until April 3.

It was in 2017 that the Modi government decided to break away from the convention of presenting the budget on the last day of February and advanced it to February 1.

The change allowed the government to complete the budgetary process by March 31, giving various department access to funds to plan expenditure for the new fiscal year from the first day itself.