‘Millennium’, ‘Dream’, ‘Rollback’: A Look At Some Of The Iconic Budgets – News18

Union Budget 2024: Prime Minister Narendra Modi led-government will present the first full Union Budget in their third term after the 18th Lok Sabha polls in 2024 in the coming month, laying the roadmap for the next five years.

The last budget presented by the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was a vote on account due to the General Elections that were scheduled from April to May.

The history of first every budget dates back to the pre-independence times when Scottish economist and politician James Wilson – of the East India Company – presented it to the British Crown on April 7, 1860.

However, if one goes to check the first budget of the country after being freed, the big document was presented on November 26, 1947, by then Finance Minister R K Shanmukham Chetty.

Iconic Budgets

The Black Budget

The Union Budget was presented by Yashwantrao B Chavan during the Indira Gandhi government in the year 1973-74. It was termed the Black Budget because of the high fiscal deficit of ₹550 crore during that year, according to PTI. The nation was going through acute financial hardships at that time.

Carrot and Stick Budget

Presented by then Finance Minister VP Singh, the Union Budget of 1986 was called as ‘Carrot & Stick’ Budget because it was the first step towards demolishing the licence raj in India.

The Budget presented in 1986 earned the name because of its dual nature. On the one hand, the government introduced the MODVAT (Modified Value Added Tax) credit to lower the cascading effect of tax that consumers had to pay, on the other hand, it also launched an intense drive against smugglers, black marketers, and tax evaders.

Epochal Budget of 1991

The economic reforms introduced by the central government in the year made it one of the most iconic budgets presented so far. Presented by Manmohan Singh in 1991, the budget was the final blow to end licence raj. Moreover, it brought the era of liberalisation. Hence, it is famously known as the ‘Epochal budget’, according to PTI.

The budget was presented at a time when India was on the verge of an economic collapse. In that year, the government significantly reduced customs duty from 220 per cent to 150 per cent and took steps to promote exports.

Dream Budget

Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram announced a significant tax cut while presenting the Union Budget in 1998. He slashed the maximum marginal income rate for individuals from 40 per cent to 30 per cent and that for domestic companies to 35 per cent. Apart from these measures, the government also announced a voluntary disclosure of income scheme to recover black money. In that year, the government also trimmed customs duty to 40 per cent.

Millennium Budget

The Union Budget presented by Yashwant Sinha presented the road map for the growth of the Information Technology (IT) industry of the country. To boost the Indian sector, it also phased out incentives on software exporters and lowered customs duty on 21 items like computers and computer accessories.

Rollback Budget

The budget presented by Yashwant Sinha during the NDA government in the year 2002-03 was famously called as the Rollback Budget. It earned this name because of the withdrawal of several proposals and policies by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.

Once-in-a-Century Budget

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s Union Budget of 2021 is popularly known as the ‘once-in-a-century budget’ because of its enhanced focus on privatisation, robust tax collections, and investment in infrastructure and healthcare.