Union Budget 2022: Budget Presentation In India And Its Fascinating History. All You Need To Know

The first Union Budget of independent India was presented by RK Shanmukham Chetty on November 26, 1947. Here is a brief look at the history of budget presentation in India.

British economist James Wilson who presented India’s first budget; (right) RK Shanmukham Chetty, the first finance minister of independent India | Photos: Wikimedia Commons

New Delhi: In the backdrop of the third wave of Covid-19, Parliament will meet from January 31 to April 8 for the Budget Session — the longest annual session. And the highly anticipated general budget will be presented on February 1, which is expected to see crucial economic announcements keeping in view the pandemic-hit times. 

Presentation of the annual budget in India is a century old practice continuing from pre-Independence time. It was in 1860 that budget proposals were presented for the first time, by James Wilson, 'finance member' of the India Council.

In independent India, the Union Budget used to be presented on the last working day of February, continuing with the colonial-era practice. In 2017, then finance minister Arun Jaitley announced that the Union Budget would be presented on February 1 from now. Also, until 1999, the budget used to be announced at 5 pm, instead of the present slot of 11 am.  

Here is a brief look at the history of budget presentation in India.

Budget Origin

The word budget is derived from a French word, Bougette, which means leather briefcase. That explains why finance ministers over the years can be seen holding it at Parliament on the budget day. The tradition comes from the United kingdom. The first budget box was designed in 1860 for then Chancellor William Ewart Gladstone. It was a wooden box with the Queen's monogram embossed in gold. Since then, the UK has stuck with the red Gladstone bag. Though India has also followed this tradition, there hasn't been any particular colour used for the briefcase.

First Union Budget

The first Union Budget of independent India was presented by RK Shanmukham Chetty on November 26, 1947. Chetty, the first finance minister of the country, was not a member of the Congress but an industrialist and erstwhile diwan of Cochin state. He had carried the trademark budget bag with him to Parliament.

First United-India Budget

In 1949-50, John Mathai succeeded Shanmukham Chetty as the finance minister and presented the first united-India budget. Mathai's budget speech was a lucid one, for which he received huge accolades. He took the decision not to read out the details, instead circulated papers with budget details, which made it much easier for the members to understand.

Budgets Presented Since 1947

Since Independence, a total of 73 annual budgets have been presented in Parliament with 14 interim budgets and four special budgets. Former finance minister Morarji Desai presented 10 budgets, the maximum by any finance minister of the country. All these budgets were presented between 1959 and 1969.

Former finance minister P Chidambaram has also presented nine Union budgets, followed by Pranab Mukherjee's eight. Yashwant Sinha, Yashwantrao Chavan and CD Deshmukh have presented seven budgets each while Manmohan Singh and TT Krishnamachari presented six each.