Know the interesting facts about Budgets since independent India->

By iastoppers.com

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will soon present Interim Budget 2024-25, it is termed 'Interim' due to upcoming Lok Sabha Elections

Budgets shape India's economic trajectory and hence are eagerly awaited by all sections of society

1947 Budget was presented by RK Shanmukham Chetty, who allocated 46% to Defence and increased export duty on cotton cloth by 3%

1951 Budget was presented by John Matthai, who laid foundation for Planning Commission, addressing post-Independence challenges

1968 Budget, also called 'People's Budget', was laid by Morarji Desai, who introduced self-assessment for manufacturers, boosting Indian manufacturing

1973 Budget, also called 'Black Budget', was presented by Yashwantrao B. Chavan, who termed it as due to Rs 550 crore fiscal deficit and aimed at nationalizing key sectors

1986 Budget, also called 'Carrot and Stick Budget', was presented by V.P. Singh who dismantled license raj and introduced MODVAT to reduce tax cascading

1987 Budget, also called 'Dream Budget', was laid by Rajiv Gandhi, who introduced Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) to reform taxation structure

1991 Budget, was termed Epochal Budget and laid by Manmohan Singh, which liberalized Indian economy, slashed customs duty, and promoted exports

1997 Budget, was presented by P Chidambaram and was known as the 'Dream Budget' as it laid down the roadmap for economic reforms

2000 Budget, laid by Yashwant Sinha, was termed as 'Millennium Budget' as it revolutionized IT sector, phased out incentives, and lowered customs duty

2018 Budget was presented by Arun Jaitley and it focused on doubling farmers' income by 2022, allocated funds for rural development