Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2023 in the Indian Parliament on Thursday. Looking back to India’s history, there have been several significant budgets that have impacted the Indian economy in a great way. Have a look at five remarkable budgets in Indian history.
1947
The first union budget of Independent India was presented in 1947. At that time, R. K. Shanmukham Chetty was the Finance Minister. It covered only seven and a half months from independence to March 31, 1948. The finance minister allocated 46% of total expenditure to the Defence Services.
1950
This was the first budget after the adoption of the Indian Constitution. It was presented by John Mathai, Finance Minister in the Congress government, on 28 February 1950. The main focus was on the effective utilisation of the nation’s resources. It laid the foundation for the planning commission. The budget also reduced the maximum rate of income tax from 30% to 25%.
1991
This budget is also known as the “The Epochal budget.” It was presented by Dr Manmohan Singh at the time of Narasimha Rao government on 24 July 1991. This budget was presented amid economic crisis and marked the starting of economic liberalisation.
1997
This budget was touted as the “Dream Budget”. This was presented on 28 February 1997 by Palaniappan Chidambaram, Finance Minister in the United Front government. This budget brought down personal income tax as well as corporate tax and was hailed as a very courageous decision by policymakers.
2000
This budget was presented on 29 February 2000, by Yashwant Sinha, Finance Minister in the NDA government. This budget revolutionised the information technology sector in India. In Budget 1991, income from software exports was made tax-free for three years, which resulted in exceptional growth in the Indian IT industry
