Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget for the year 2023-24 on February 1 at 11 am in the Parliament.
With assembly elections due for around 5 states in the year, it is assumed that the Budget might go big on developmental and infrastructural announcements focused on poll-bound states. The financial statement by the minister will also have to keep in mind the BJP's agenda in the upcoming elections as the Budget will be the torch-bearer
A total budget estimate of Rs 39.4 lakh crore was allotted to ministries in FY23. Let's take a look at the allocations to key ministries and the Centre's expenses in the previous Budget:
The Ministry of Defence got the highest chunk of allocation with Rs 5,25,166 crore after the Finance Ministry, which was granted Rs 15,38,779. Ministries of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution (Rs 2,17,684), Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (Rs 1,99,107) and the Ministry of Home Affairs (Rs 1,85,776) were others with the highest allocations.
Ministries of Panchayati Raj, Corporate Affairs, Coal, Planning, Parliamentary Affairs and Steel received the least of allocations.