<p>The Railway Budget was merged with the Union Budget in 2017, ending a practice that began in 1924 under British rule.</p>.<p>A Niti Aayog commission submitted a white paper recommendation to do away with the practice of a separate Railway Budget. The recommendation was submitted to then Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu. The minister then wrote a letter to then finance minister the late Arun Jaitley to merge the Railway and Union Budgets for the welfare of the Railways and the Indian economy.</p>.<p>Arun Jaitely brought this up in 2016 at the Rajya Sabha and a special committee was constituted to plan the merger of both Budgets.</p>.<p>As per the Niti Aayog recommendations, over the years, the Railway Budget had shrunk significantly, and therefore, a separate Budget was not required. Recommendations also stated that the British started this practice in 1924 because a significant part of the government revenues and the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was dependent on Railway revenues. India was the only country with a separate Railway Budget.</p>.<p>In 2017, Arun Jaitley presented the first combined Union Budget, and the practice has been followed since.</p>.<p>This year, the Union Budget will be presented on Feb 1, 2023 by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.</p>
<p>The Railway Budget was merged with the Union Budget in 2017, ending a practice that began in 1924 under British rule.</p>.<p>A Niti Aayog commission submitted a white paper recommendation to do away with the practice of a separate Railway Budget. The recommendation was submitted to then Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu. The minister then wrote a letter to then finance minister the late Arun Jaitley to merge the Railway and Union Budgets for the welfare of the Railways and the Indian economy.</p>.<p>Arun Jaitely brought this up in 2016 at the Rajya Sabha and a special committee was constituted to plan the merger of both Budgets.</p>.<p>As per the Niti Aayog recommendations, over the years, the Railway Budget had shrunk significantly, and therefore, a separate Budget was not required. Recommendations also stated that the British started this practice in 1924 because a significant part of the government revenues and the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was dependent on Railway revenues. India was the only country with a separate Railway Budget.</p>.<p>In 2017, Arun Jaitley presented the first combined Union Budget, and the practice has been followed since.</p>.<p>This year, the Union Budget will be presented on Feb 1, 2023 by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.</p>