The Union Budget is the Centre's annual statement of planned receipts and spending. To judge delivery, compare the Budget Estimate with the Actual. The fiscal…
R. K. Shanmukham Chetty, on 26 November 1947, covering seven and a half months to March 1948.
Reserves of about 2,500 crore rupees covered a fortnight of imports. The Budget and new industrial policy ended most licensing.
By the 1993 Budget, inflation was below 7% and growth was recovering. The fiscal correction stayed unfinished.
Chidambaram cut the top personal tax rate from 40% to 30%, betting lower rates would widen the base.
A 2003 law that sets a path for the Centre's deficits and makes the government explain any deviation.
So Parliament can pass the Budget before 1 April and ministries can spend from the first quarter.
On 1 July 2017, replacing excise, service tax and state VAT. Years of rate and rule changes followed.
The 2020-21 deficit was planned at 3.5% of GDP. The revised estimate was 9.5%; the actual was 9.2%.
Higher capital spending and a deficit below 4.5% of GDP by 2025-26. Both were delivered.
Not all of it. The Budget allocated 11.11 lakh crore; actual capital spending was 10.52 lakh crore.
Three pilot rounds to August 2026 saw about 29,700 people join, far from the 1 crore five-year goal.
Income up to 12 lakh rupees a year became tax-free under the new regime, at a cost of about 1 lakh crore.
From 22 September 2025 most goods moved to 5% or 18%, replacing the 12% and 28% slabs for most items.
Spending of 53.47 lakh crore, capex 12.22 lakh crore, a 4.3% deficit and debt at 55.6% of GDP.
Capex is on pace, but high oil prices raise subsidy costs. ICRA sees a possible overshoot of up to 1 lakh crore.
Compare the Budget Estimate with the Revised Estimate and the Actual, then look for the physical result.
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