No printing of documents, Union Budget to be made available on mobile apps

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget for 2023-24 in paperless form on February 1, continuing the tradition of presenting a “green budget” for the third year in a row.

The Union Budget was delivered in paperless form for the first time in 2021 when Sitharaman read her budget speech from a handheld tablet. This was seen as an attempt to curb the spread of Covid-19. The budget was presented in paperless form in 2022 as well amid the spread of a new variant of Coronavirus.

While Covid crisis forced the government to deliver the budget in paperless form, it has now become the practice. “Like the previous two Union Budgets, Union Budget 2023-24 will also be delivered in paperless form. The Union Budget 2023-24 is to be presented on 1st February, 2023,” union finance ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

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The Union Budget consists of 14 documents. This includes Annual Financial Statement, Demand for Grants and Finance Bill. Traditionally, these documents used to be printed at Budget Press, situated inside North Block, in the national capital.

Instead of delivering the printed documents it will be made available through mobile apps in a digital format. The government has developed ‘Union Budget Mobile App’ to ensure hassle-free access of Budget documents by Members of Parliament (MPs) and the general public.

The app will be available on both Android and iOS platforms. It can also be downloaded from the union budget web portal. Digital form of the budget documents will be released in two languages – English and Hindi.

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The Budget documents will be available on the mobile app after the completion of the budget speech by the finance minister in Lok Sabha, the lower house of parliament on Feb 1.

The process of compilation of budget documents started on Thursday with the customary Halwa ceremony held at the North Block in the presence of finance minister Sitharaman. Halwa ceremony is performed every year before the “lock-in” process of budget preparation begins.

In order to ensure secrecy, officials involved in the budget preparation are “locked-in”. They will be allowed to come out of the North Block only after the finance minister will complete her budget speech on Feb 1. These officials won’t even have access to their family members.