Budget 2024: Here's why presentation date was shifted to Feb 1
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Budget 2024 to be presented on Feb 1
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to deliver the Interim Budget for the fiscal year 2024-25 on February 1.
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PM Modi-led govt changed tradition
Earlier, budget presentation was slated for the end of February. It was the NDA government, led by PM Modi, that brought about a change in this long-standing tradition.
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Tradition changed in 2017
Back in 2017, the then Union Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley, announced a departure from the age-old norm of presenting the budget on the final working day of February,
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Jaitley explained the shift
Former FM Jaitley explained that the shift to February 1 was aimed at breaking away from the 92-year-old colonial-era practice.
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Why was it changed?
Additionally, presenting the budget at the end of February left the government with minimal time to prepare for new policies and changes slated to take effect from April 1.
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What other change?
Jaitley also did away with tradition of presenting a separate Railway Budget. Instead, he integrated the Railways Budget with the Union Budget.