Budget 2021: Key Facts About India's Past Union Budgets

Edited By Abhishek Vasudev

08 Jan 2021, 06:02 PM IST

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present Union Budget on February 1.

The first Union Budget of independent India was presented by the then Finance Minister RK Sanmukham Chetty on November 26, 1947, according to according to data available on Department of Economic Affairs' website — dea.gov.in.
The first Union Budget of independent India targeted budget revenue of Rs 171.15 crore.
The Union Budget statement, presented by Mr Chetty, covered a period of seven-and-half months from August 15, 1947, to March 31, 1948, according to Department of Economic Affairs' website.
Former Finance Minister Morarji Desai has presented the annual Union Budget 10 times — the highest number of Union Budget presentations by a finance minister in India.
He is followed by P Chidambaram — who has presented nine Budgets - and Pranab Mukherjee (eight).
KC Neogy, who only held office for 35 days, is the only finance minister not to have presented a Union Budget.
Until 1999, the Union Budget was announced at 5 pm on the last working day of February.
In 1999, then finance minister Yashwant Sinha changed this tradition by announcing the Union Budget at 11 am.
Until 2016, the Union Budget was presented on the last working day of February. Former finance minister Arun Jaitley, however, changed that tradition in 2017. In 2017, the Union Budget was presented on February 1. Until 2016, the Railway Budget was presented few days before the Union Budget. In 2017, however, the railway budget was presented along with the Union Budget — a shift from a 92-year-old practice.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman became the second woman to present the Union Budget after Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance returned to power in May 2019.