File photo of Jawaharlal Nehru.
Credit: PTI File Photo
'Bougette' — the French term which translated to the English word 'Budget', meaning 'small bag' is the core economic plan driving a developing or a developed economy. While it is true that finance ministers at the Centre walked into the Indian parliament term wise, holding that 'red suitcase' to announce the Union budget, there have been select instances when the prime ministers of independent India have presented the Union Budget.
Time and again since 1947, different prime ministers took charge of the finance portfolio to announce the budget after finance ministers like TT Krishnamachari and Morarji Desai, among others, tendered their resignations. Jawaharlal Nehru stands out as the very first prime minister of India to announce the Union Budget.
Nehru took charge of the finance portfolio in 1958-59 after the Justice Chagla Commission found Krishnamachari guilty of corruption and he resigned. Several years later, in 1970, the Indian parliament witnessed the next prime minister reading out the Budget to the members in the House.
Daughter of Nehru, Indira Gandhi presented the Union Budget in 1970 as the prime minister of India, when then finance minister Morarji Desai resigned. She also earned the title of being the first female finance minister (handling the finance portfolio) of India to present the Budget.
Morarji Desai was elected the prime minister in 1977, and he comes next in rare list of Indian prime ministers who announced the Annual Financial Statement in Article 112 of the Indian Constitution. Desai served as the fourth prime minister of the country, and also holds the record for presenting 10 Union Budgets, of which 8 were annual while two were interim Budgets.
Rajiv Gandhi was the next prime minister and another member of the Gandhi family to have presented the Union Budget during 1987-88. This was after VP Singh resigned from the post of finance minister at the time.
The year 1991 comes next in the history of Indian economy and is remembered for the reforms introduced by then finance minister Dr Manmohan Singh under the prime ministership of Pamulaparthi Venkata Narasimha Rao. With more than 18,600 words, Singh's speech is to date the longest budget speech, and for the first time highlighted the significance of foreign investments in India.
The Rao-led UPA government for the first time introduced the service tax as Singh read out to the members of the House in 1991, the reduction of import duty to 50% that was earlier more than 300%.
The Indian budget story, however, is not restricted to independent India. It came into existence way back in 1869. In fact, the East India Company introduced the idea that India as a colony needed its own budget on April 7, 1860. Scottish businessman, James Wilson, presented the very first Indian Budget on February 18, 1869, a few years later.
Current Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget for the next financial year on February 1. Sitharaman will only present an interim fiscal budget for 2024-25 as the 2024 Lok Sabha elections are due, while the Union government said that the final complete budget will be announced in July 2024.
Sitharaman has till date presented five budgets, and is holding the finance portfolio since the National Democratic Alliance came back to power in 2019.