The Union Budget 2024-25 is a financial concept and a constitutional provision, officially termed the Annual Financial Statement (AFS) of the Government of India. It is a statement of the estimated receipts and expenditures of the government for the financial year, which runs from April 1 to March 31. The constitutional basis for the Union Budget is Article 112 of the Constitution of India, which mandates the President to cause the AFS to be laid before both Houses of Parliament.
The first budget in pre-independent India was presented on April 7, 1860, by James Wilson to reform the country's financial system following the Revolt of 1857. The first Union Budget of independent India was presented by Finance Minister R. K. Shanmukham Chetty on November 26, 1947. The budget is prepared by the Budget Division of the Department of Economic Affairs within the Ministry of Finance.
The mechanism involves the presentation of the AFS, which is divided into the Revenue Budget and the Capital Budget. The government's taxation proposals are contained in the Finance Bill, which is classified as a Money Bill under Article 110 of the Constitution. After the Lok Sabha votes on the Demands for Grants, the Appropriation Bill is passed, which authorizes the government to withdraw money from the Consolidated Fund of India as required by Article 114(3).
A significant recent change occurred in 2017, when the government advanced the presentation date from the last working day of February to February 1 to ensure the budget's implementation before the new financial year begins. Also in 2017, the Railway Budget, a 92-year-old tradition, was merged with the Union Budget. The Union Budget 2024-25 focused on priorities like skilling, with a new centrally sponsored scheme to upskill 20 lakh youth over five years, and an increase in the Mudra loan limit to ₹20 lakh under the 'Tarun' category.