Nirmala Sitharaman to present sixth Budget in a row ahead of general elections

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present her sixth straight Budget ahead of the Parliamentary elections matching the record of former Prime Minister Morarji DesaiBudget 2024 Preelection BudgetSitharaman in her preelection Budget which technically is a vote on account and popularly termed an interim Budget will seek Parliaments nod for a grant in advance to meet the central governments essential expenditure for the first four months of the new fiscal year that starts in April A new government elected after the AprilMay general elections will present the full Budget likely in July reported news agency PTIPrime Minister Narendra Modi governments last Budget before the general elections is widely expected to contain a mix of measures for the economy and electorally significant segments like farmers and womenPeppered with political innuendos it may be a political document with a snapshot of the Modi governments triumphs over the last 10 years and pointers to how it wants to take the country forwardWith pressure for populist measures off after recent emphatic wins in three states including Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan Sitharaman is expected to stick to being fiscally prudent while sprinkling sops for sectors like agriculture and engines of the economy that would create jobs and boost consumption reported PTIWhile convention dictates that no major policy announcements are made in the interim Budget it however presents an occasion for spectacle just weeks ahead of the Model Code of Conduct coming into force for the general elections reported PTIBudget 2024 Finance ministers in the past have announced doles for rural India and the middle classSome finance ministers in the past have used the occasion to announce doles for rural India and the middle class reported PTIFor instance the then Finance Minister Piyush Goyal in his interim Budget in 2019 had announced Rs 75000 crore outlay for PM KISAN Samman Nidhi scheme wherein farmers are paid Rs 6000 cash a year reported PTIHe also raised standard deduction to Rs 50000 and came up with tax rebate to ensure that individuals with income of up to Rs 7 lakh per annum are not taxedIn the preelection Budget of 2014 Finance Minister P Chidambaram in the Congressled UPA government slashed excise duty on cars SUVs two wheelers capital goods and consumer durables to boost manufacturingPranab Mukherjee too in his interim Budget in 2009 hiked the outlay for rural sector schemes to shield economy from the aftermath of global financial crisis triggered by collapse of USbased investment bank Lehman Brothers in 2008Jaswant Singh of the BJPled NDA government in the 2004 preelection interim Budget announced sops for central government employeesThe first interim Budget of independent India was presented by the then Finance Minister R K Shanmukham Chetty on November 26 1947 C D Deshmukh presented the interim Budget in 1952 TT Krishnamachari in 1957Former Prime Minister Morarji Desai presented two interim Budgets one in 1962 and other in 1967 Desai has the distinction of presenting six Budgets in a row He had presented a total number of 10 Union BudgetsAmong others Manmohan Singh presented interim Budget in 1996 Yashwant Sinha in 1991 R Venkataraman in 1980 H M Patel in 1977 and Y B Chavan in 1971Budget 2024 No major policy changesAs the Parliamentary elections are due Sitharamans interim Budget may not contain any major policy changes reported PTISpeaking at an industry event in December 2023 Sitharaman had ruled out any spectacular announcement in the interim Budget saying it would just be a voteonaccount before the general elections reported PTIAfter the Modi government came to power in 2014 Arun Jaitley took charge of the finance ministry and presented five Budgets in a row from 201415 to 201819 It was in 2017 that Jaitley departed from the colonialera tradition of presenting Budget on the last working day of February to 1st of the monthAfter the 2019 general elections in the Modi 20 government Sitharaman was given the charge of the finance portfolio She became the second woman to have presented Budget after Indira Gandhi who had presented the Budget for financial year 197071In 2019 Sitharaman did away with the traditional Budget briefcase and instead went for a bahikhata with the national emblem to carry the speech and other documentsUnder Sitharaman India has weathered the Covid pandemic with an array of policy measures announced for the poor and continued its tag of the fastest growing major economy and a bright spot in the world economyIndia is racing to become a USD 5 trillion economy by 202728 and a USD 30 trillion by 2047Sitharaman is expected to come up with some measures especially to boost the rural sector as the agriculture sector growth in 202324 is estimated to decelerate to 18 per cent from 4 per cent in the preceding yearWith inputs from PTI