Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is likely to set a new record by presenting her seventh consecutive Union Budget on Tuesday, surpassing the previous record held by former Prime Minister and Finance Minister Morarji Desai.
Sitharaman, who previously set a record for the longest budget speech on 1 February 2020, with a duration of two hours and 40 minutes before it was interrupted, will now achieve the milestone of the most consecutive budget presentations.
Desai, who served as Finance Minister in two separate tenures from 1959 to 1963 and from 1967 to 1969 presented a total of six budgets.
Despite this, he remains the overall record holder for the highest number of budget speeches, having delivered ten during his tenure under Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Lal Bahadur Shastri.
The upcoming Union Budget for 2024 is to lay out a strategic plan for transforming India into a ‘Viksit Bharat’ by 2047.
Following the presentation, Sitharaman will hold a press conference with key officials, including Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary, Finance Secretary T V Somanathan, other Finance Ministry Secretaries, and Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran.
Key focus areas for the Union Budget are likely to include:
- Rural Economy: Increased allocations to boost the rural economy.
- Taxation Reforms: Changes aimed at benefiting taxpayers and simplifying the tax structure.
- Infrastructure Development: Investment in infrastructure to support economic growth.
- Local Manufacturing: Measures to promote and strengthen local manufacturing.
- Job Creation: Initiatives to create jobs and enhance skill development.
- Production-Linked Incentives (PLI): Expanded PLI allocations for labor-intensive sectors.
Anticipated highlights of the budget however include significant reforms in income tax structure and efforts to improve the ease of doing business in India.
Also Read: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Set To Unveil Union Budget For ‘Viksit Bharat 2047’
