Budget 2024 Live: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman with Ministers of State Pankaj Chaudhary and Bhagwat Karad and her team of officials a day before presentation of the Interim Budget 2024, at her North Block office in New Delhi, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024. (PTI Photo)Interim Budget 2024 Live Updates: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present her sixth Budget on February 1. This is just an ‘interim budget’, since the term of the current government will end soon and the country will go to polls. Thus, this Budget is unlikely to have any major policy announcements — the next ‘full budget’ will be presented in July, once a new government has been sworn in after the Lok Sabha elections.
Here are the live updates
Sitharaman’s Budget speech, therefore, is likely to be an exercise in underscoring the achievements of the incumbent government not just over the past year but also over the past decade. The Budget will also shed valuable light on the fiscal health of the government and the economic direction the country is headed in.
The Budget speech will be telecast live on the official channels of Parliament Sansad TV and Doordarshan while also being telecasted on the channel’s individual official YouTube. The YouTube channel of The Indian Express will also telecast the Budget speech. One can also access the Budget 2024 documents in digital format through the Union Budget Web Portal (www.indiabudget.gov.in), available in both English and Hindi.
The Budget Sitharaman is presenting is technically a vote on account and is popularly termed an interim Budget as it seeks Parliament's nod for a grant in advance to meet the central government's essential expenditure for the first four months of the new fiscal year that starts in April. The interim Budget, however, presents an occasion for spectacle just weeks ahead of the Model Code of Conduct coming into force.
Each year’s Budget provides two pie charts. One pie chart tells the source-wise break-up of each rupee that the government earns. The second pie chart details where each rupee is spent. These charts do not tell the absolute amount of the money spent — instead, they tell the proportionate share.
Read more about what this tells about the economy.
Interim Budget explained Live: How to make sense of the numbers presented in the Budget?
Since this is the interim Budget — a full-fledged one will be presented after the general elections by the new government in July — the Budget speech is likely to be an exercise in underscoring the achievements of the incumbent government not just over the past year but also over the past decade. Just as predictable is the likely response of the Opposition parties; they are likely to argue that Budgets by the BJP-led government have failed the country, especially its most vulnerable sections.
How can these claims be checked? It has to do with certain concepts related to the Budget: inflation, nominal and real numbers, Budget Estimates and Revised Estimates, and so on. In this explainer, we explain what these terms mean and how you can use this understanding to make sense of the claims on the numbers.
Interim Budget explained Live: The main concerns related to the Indian economy
Today, at 11 am, the interim Union Budget for the coming financial year (2024-25) will be presented. The full-fledged Budget for FY25, however, will most likely be presented in July when a new cabinet takes charge after the general elections in April-May.
What can be expected this time? Watch this video: