What goes into the government budget and why is it important? What are the middle class's expectations from the Finance Minister today?

Union Budget 2025: A few hours from now, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the country's general budget in the Lok Sabha. This will be her eighth consecutive budget speech. 

So far, Morarji Desai has presented the budget 10 times, the most. Out of this, he has presented the interim budget twice. The general budget is called the mirror of the country's economy. 

In this, details of the estimated income and possible expenditure of the government are presented. Why is the Union Budget necessary and what do the people of the country expect from this time's budget, let us know in detail- 

What is the general budget: The general budget is the annual financial statement of the government. It gives details of the government's proposed expenditure and revenue for the coming year. It reflects the country's financial health and economic policies. 

The revenue details talk about the government's income from various sources such as tax, excise duty and other taxes. If we talk about expenditure, then estimates are presented for expenditure in different sectors such as education, health, defense and infrastructure. If the government's expenditure is more than the income, then it is called fiscal deficit.

Why budget is important: India has a lot of diversity in terms of social and economic aspects. Budget is a plan that helps individuals, families, organizations and governments to manage their income and expenditure. It helps in determining how much money is coming and how much is going. 

Similarly, it is important for the government ruling the people to use the available resources properly. Remove regional inequalities through balance of income and expenditure, strengthen defense-security, strengthen the weaker sections, improve facilities like education and health. A properly prepared budget takes the country forward on the path of development.

Budget timing: The general budget in India is usually presented on 1 February every year. This tradition has been going on for the last few years. Earlier the budget was presented on the last working day of February. 

In 1999, its time was changed and Yashwant Sinha, who was the finance minister in the then Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, presented the budget at 11 am. Since then the budget is presented at 11 am. 

In 2017, the date of presenting the budget was changed to 1 February. The Finance Minister starts reading the budget speech in the Lok Sabha at 11 am and discussions and debates on the budget continue throughout the day. After the budget is passed in the Parliament, it is implemented.

Record of presenting the budget the most number of times: Today is the second budget speech of the third term of the Modi government and the eighth consecutive budget speech of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Morarji Desai holds the record of presenting the budget the most number of times i.e. 10. 

But he presented the budget six times in a row, out of which five times were full budgets and once was an interim budget. Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram presented the budget nine times. 

Pranab Mukherjee also presented a total of eight budgets while being the Finance Minister. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh presented the budget five times between 1991 and 1995.

What to expect from Budget 2025: The Finance Minister can give economic incentives to speed up the rising inflation and GDP growth. This time it is expected that the government can give relief to the middle class, especially taxpayers. 

In view of the slowdown in the country's GDP growth, there is a constant demand for income tax exemption to increase domestic consumption. It is expected that the government will give relief on the income tax front to put more money in the hands of the common man and the middle class. The government will continue to focus on capital expenditure.

When was the country's first general budget presented: India's first general budget was presented on 26 November 1947. It was presented by the then Finance Minister RK Shanmukham Chetty. This budget was the first budget of independent India and presented a blueprint of the country's economic condition. 

Longest and shortest budget speech: The record of giving the longest budget speech in India is held by the current Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. She gave a speech of 2 hours 42 minutes in the year 2020. While the shortest budget speech was given by the then Finance Minister Hirubhai Muljibhai Patel in 1977. It had only 800 words.