Cabinet to consider Union Budget presentation on Feb 1

TIL Desk/Business/New Delhi-Breaking from tradition, the general budget of the union government is likely to be presented on February 1 instead of the last day of the month, as part of an overhaul that would also scrap the practice of a separate railway budget. The proposal for advancing of the budget and the merger of the railway budget with it will be considered today at a meeting of the union Cabinet to be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has been pushing for it.

The cabinet will also consider the proposal for doing away with the distinction between Plan and non-Plan expenditure. According to the proposal, the entire Budget-making exercise will be advanced by 3-4 weeks so as to complete the legislative part of financial business before April 1, the start of a financial year.

Sources said the government plans to convene the Budget Session of Parliament before January 25, 2017, present the pre-Budget Economic Survey a day or two before the finance minister reads out the Budget on February 1. Towards that end, the advance estimates for GDP will now be made on January 7 instead of February 7 and mid-year review of expenditure by various ministries is proposed to be completed by November 15.