Interim Budget 2024: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Interim Budget 2024-25 before the Lok Sabha elections to be held later this year. The Union Budget is prepared annually by the Department of Economic Affairs, which operates under the Union Ministry of Finance.
Drafting of Union Budget
The exercise of drafting the Union Budget is carried out by the top bureaucrats of the PMO and the Finance Ministry. This exercise is difficult and complex. To begin with, North Block, the structure on New Delhi’s Raisina Hill that houses the Finance Ministry, goes into lockdown mode after the ceremonial ‘Halwa’ ceremony. In a long-standing tradition, this ceremony marks the beginning of the compilation and printing of the Union Budget. It marks the final stage of preparations for the Union Budget.
During the printing of the Union Budget, officials park themselves in the office with limited communication even with their families, given that it is one of India’s most guarded documents. In fact, the Finance Ministry has a floor for the nights that are spent in North Block by key members of the team involved in printing financial documents. In fact, the budget-making exercise usually begins six months before the presentation of the document, followed by meetings with industry leaders, social sector analysts, economists, etc.
The annual budget statement serves as a fundamental financial blueprint established by the government administration, outlining estimated government income and expenditure for the upcoming fiscal year.
But this year an interim budget will be presented in the Parliament by the ruling government. The current ruling government presents an interim budget when there is not enough time to present a full budget or when elections are to be held in the same year. Usually, the incoming government is responsible for preparing the full budget.
key members
The key members involved in making the budget are Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra, Department of Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey, Department of Financial Services Secretary Vivek Joshi. TV Somanathan, Finance Secretary, V Ananth Nageswaran, Chief Economic Advisor, and FM Nirmala Sitharaman.
Apart from him, Principal Secretary to the PM PK Mishra and four additional secretaries to the PM including Arvind Srivastava, Punya Salila Srivastava, Hari Ranjan Rao and Atish Chandra are also involved in the budget preparations, a Moneycontrol report said.
FM Sitharaman will present her sixth consecutive budget for FY 2024-25, but as mentioned above, the full budget will be presented after the Lok Sabha elections in May 2024.
Finance Secretary Somanathan oversees the Department of Expenditure and provides guidance to the Finance Minister on financial allocations. He has played an important role in implementing important government initiatives like Self-reliant India.
Finance Secretary TV Somanathan, a Tamil Nadu cadre officer, is the point-person for the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in the Finance Ministry and has played a key role in formulating plans to contain the fallout of the pandemic. He has also played a key role in increasing capital expenditure in ministries to Rs 10 lakh crore for FY 2024. Before joining the Finance Ministry, Somanathan served as Additional Secretary in the PMO.
PK Mishra oversees all important policy matters of the government. A cabinet-ranking bureaucrat, he is the eyes and ears of the Prime Minister across all ministries.
Arvind Srivastava, finance and economy officer in the PMO, is a 1994 batch IAS officer from Karnataka cadre. The ministries of finance and corporate affairs and NITI Aayog come under their purview. He joins the PMO from the Finance Ministry where he was Joint Secretary.
Punya Salila Srivastava was appointed as Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs from November 2020 to October 2021, after which she moved to the PMO. A 1993-batch IAS officer of the AGMUT (Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territories) cadre, she was part of the team that briefed the media on a daily basis during the Covid pandemic. She handles the social and welfare sector.
Hari Ranjan Rao is a 1994-batch IAS officer of MP cadre and looks after the technology and governance vertical in the PMO. Rao is a former secretary to former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and has worked as the managing director of MP Tourism Board. Before joining the PMO, Rao was posted in the Department of Telecommunications.
Aatish Chandra is a 1994 batch Bihar-cadre IAS officer and looks after the Rural Development department. Before joining the PMO, Chandra was posted as CMD of Food Corporation of India.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the budget on 1 February. This will be a vote-on-account budget before the general elections.
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