Budget Session Started: President will Address Joint Sitting

The Budget Session of Parliament commenced on January  31st  with an address by President Droupadi Murmu to the joint sitting of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.

• Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Interim Budget on February 1. A budget will be presented with the new government assuming power.  
• The budget for the fiscal year from April 1, 2024 to March 31, 2025 will be presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in a pre-election budget session that will continue until February 9th.

Interim Budget

In an election year, the ruling government cannot present a complete budget. Instead, the finance ministers present an interim budget that covers the government's expenses and revenues for a short period of time. 

This is done until a new government is elected and takes charge. The interim budget is presented on the same schedule as the Union budget would be in a regular financial year.

Interim Budget includes

The interim budget contains estimates for the government's expenditure, revenue, fiscal deficit, financial performance and projections for a few months. No significant policy announcements that may burden the next government can be made in the interim budget.

Vote-on-account

The Parliament has passed a vote-on-account in the interim budget, which allows the government to obtain approval for essential spending such as salaries and ongoing expenses from the Parliament.

Importance of Interim Budget

It has become common for outgoing governments ahead of polls to create an interim budget, although there is no constitutional provision for it.

About Budget 

As per Article 112 of the Indian Constitution, the Union Budget for a given year is known as the Annual Financial Statement (AFS). The AFS contains an estimate of the government's receipts and expenditures for a financial year, which runs from April 1 of the current year to March 31st  of the following year.

Budget contains:

• Estimates of revenue and capital receipts
• Ways and means to raise revenue
• Estimates of expenditure
• Actual receipts and expenditure details for  the closing financial year
• Reasons for any surplus or deficit in that year
• Economic and financial policy for the upcoming year, including:
  •   Taxation proposals
  •   Prospects of revenue
  •   Spending program
  •   Introduction of new schemes or projects

Stages of Budget

• Presentation of the Budget
• General discussion
• Scrutiny by Departmental Committees
• Voting on Demands for Grants
• Passing of the Appropriation Bill
• Passing of the Finance Bill

The Budget Division of the Department of Economic Affairs in the Finance Ministry is the nodal department responsible for preparing the budget