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Preparations for FY 2023-24 Union Budget entered the last lag with the customary Halwa ceremony being held in the North Block on Thursday. The budget will be presented on February 1 at 11 am.
The Halwa ceremony is performed every year before the “lock-in” process of the Budget preparations begins. From now on, over 100 employees of the Finance Ministry will remain in a printing press located inside the North Block on Raisina Hills near the President’s House to prepare the budget documents.
Although like the previous two Union Budgets, Union Budget 2023-24 too will be delivered in paperless form, still ‘lock-in’ continues and ‘locked in’ employees will come out only after the presentation of the budget.
Union Budget mobile app
All the 14 Union Budget documents, including the Annual Financial Statement (known as the Budget), Demand for Grants (DG), Finance Bill etc. as prescribed by the Constitution, will be available on the “Union Budget Mobile App” for hassle-free access by Members of Parliament (MPs) and the general public using the simplest form of digital convenience.
It is bilingual (English & Hindi) and will be available on both Android and iOS platforms. The App can also be downloaded from the Union Budget Web Portal (www.indiabudget.gov.in).
The Budget documents will be available on the Mobile App after the completion of the Budget Speech by the Finance Minister in Parliament on February 1.
The Halwa ceremony was presided over by the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and attended by her two deputies, Ministers of State Pankaj Chaudhary and Dr. Bhagwat Kisanrao Karad.
The ceremony also saw the presence of Finance Secretary T.V. Somanathan, Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth, DIPAM Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey, Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra, Chief Economic Advisor Anantha V. Nageswaran, CBDT Chairman Nitin Gupta and CBIC Chairman Vivek Johri.
As part of the ceremony, the Finance Minister also took a tour of the Budget Press and reviewed the preparations besides extending her best wishes to the officials concerned.
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