Budget Basics
Economics · बजट की मूल बातें · 22 facts
Union Budget is Annual Financial Statement under Article 112 of Constitution
Budget presented by Finance Minister on 1 February each year (since 2017)
Railway Budget merged with Union Budget from 2017 onward
Revenue Receipts: income that does NOT create liability (tax + non-tax)
Capital Receipts: create liability or reduce assets (loans, disinvestment)
Revenue Expenditure: day-to-day spending (salaries, subsidies, interest)
Capital Expenditure: spending that creates assets (roads, bridges, buildings)
Fiscal Deficit = Total Expenditure minus Total Receipts (excluding borrowings)
Revenue Deficit = Revenue Expenditure minus Revenue Receipts
Primary Deficit = Fiscal Deficit minus Interest Payments
FRBM Act 2003 aims to ensure fiscal discipline and reduce deficit
Consolidated Fund of India (Article 266): all govt revenues deposited here
No money from Consolidated Fund withdrawn WITHOUT Parliament approval
Contingency Fund (Article 267): emergency spending authorized by President
Public Account: money held in trust by govt (PPF, small savings)
Finance Bill must be passed within 75 days of introduction in Parliament
Vote on Account: temporary approval for govt spending before full budget
Appropriation Bill authorizes withdrawal from Consolidated Fund of India
Zero-Based Budgeting: every expense justified from scratch each year
First Union Budget: R.K. Shanmukham Chetty on 26 November 1947
Morarji Desai presented the MOST budgets — 10 times as Finance Minister
Budget was earlier presented on last working day of February (before 2017)