Union Budget 2024 | 10 things you need to know

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is scheduled to present the budget for the fiscal year 2024-25 on July 23. This is Nirmala Sitharaman's seventh-budget in a row, including the interim budget, which she presented on February 1 this year.

The budget will outline the financial strategies and economic priorities of the NDA government.

Here's what you need to know about India's Union Budget;

1. India's first-ever budget was presented by Scottish economist James Wilson on April 7, 1860.

2. Post-independence, R K Shanmukham Chetty, the then finance minister presented the country's first annual Budget on February 28, 1948.

3. Until 1999, India's budget was presented at 5pm on the last working day of February. This was changed by Yashwant Sinha, who was the finance minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led government at that time to 11 am.

4. Dr Manmohan Singh holds the record for the longest budget speech, in terms of words, using 18,604 words in 1991. In 2018, Arun Jaitley’s speech had 18,604 words, second place in terms of word count.

5. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman holds the record for the longest budget speech. She spoke for two hours and 42 minutes during the Union Budget for 2020-21.

6. With the presentation of this budget on July 23, Nirmala Sitharaman will also become the first finance minister to present seven consecutive budgets, breaking former finance minister Morarji Desai’s record of six.

7. In India's history, Moraraji Desai still holds the record for submitting the most budget proposals. He presented 10 budgets during his tenure as finance minister from 1962 to 1969.

8. The shortest budget speech was presented by Hirubhai Mulljibhai Patel in 1977, with just 800 words.

9. The Union Budget was presented only in English until 1955. The Congress government later decided to print the Budget documents in both Hindi and English.

10. The 2021-22 budget was the first entirely digitised budget owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Union Budget 2024 | Making a record for any Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman will be presenting her 7th Union Budget on July 23, 2024 under the Modi 3.0 government. While inflation has burnt a hole in the pockets of 'aam janata', will this Budget spell relief for Indians? Track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analysis only on Deccan Herald. Also follow us on WhatsApp, LinkedIn, X, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.