Ahead of presenting the Union Budget for 2024-25 to the Parliament, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman walked out of the finance ministry with a tablet in a red “bahi-khata” sleeve and the national emblem.

From the traditional briefcase to a “bahi-khata” and now a tablet, the budget document has gone paperless over the years.

Wearing a white silk saree with violet border, Ms Sitharaman and her team posed for the traditional picture outside her office, before heading to the Rashtrapati Bhawan to meet the President. 

In 2019, Ms Sitharaman broke the long-standing tradition of a Budget briefcase with a ‘bahi khata,‘ a red-colored Indian accounting ledger, in a step towards shedding the colonial legacy associated with the budget presentation. 

The word ‘Budget’ comes from the French word ‘bougette’, which means leather briefcase. The tradition to carry a “budget case” tradition started in the 18th century when the Chancellor of the Exchequer or Britain’s budget chief was asked to ‘open the budget’ while presenting his annual statement.

In 2021, the Finance Minister presented the budget in a paperless format, using a ‘Made in India’ tablet. 

This will be the Finance Minister’s seventh consecutive budget and the Modi government’s 13th straight Budget since 2014. The budget is likely to focus on changes in the income tax structure and improving the ease of doing business in India.

Speaking to the media, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary earlier said that the first Union Budget of the third Modi government will be based on the PM’s mantra of “Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas”.

The budget session of Parliament began on July 22 and, according to schedule, will end on August 12.
On Monday, the economic survey presented in the Parliament by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that in the medium term Indian economy can grow at a rate of 7%

Indian equities are trading cautiously ahead of the Union Budget 2024 amid expectations of tax sops and jobs creation measures.

Sensex, the 30-share pack of the Bombay Stock Exchange, climbed over 250 points as markets opened at 9:15 am, but wiped out the gains in early trading. Nifty, too, is trading in the red, in anticipation of the Budget announcements.

Sensex closed at 80,502.08 while the NSE benchmark ended at 23,537.85 yesterday.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who has reached the Parliament, will present the Budget 2024 at 11 am. Expectations of tax reliefs for the middle class and job creation measures are likely to give a positive nudge to the markets.

NTPC, ITC, and UltraTech cement are among the leading gainers among the BSE pack while the major losers include JSW Steel and HDFC Bank.

IT stocks like Wipro, HCLTech, and Tech Mahindra are also in the red.

The pre-budget Economic Survey, which was unveiled yesterday, noted that the IT sector hiring had slowed considerably in the last financial year; it is unlikely to pick up significantly.

“The market participants will be closely watching for any tweaks in LTCGs tax. If there are no changes in LTCG tax. that will be a big relief for the market and the market is likely to react positively to that,” said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

Railway Budget 2024 Live: FM Nirmala Sitharaman is expected to announce that in this financial year the Vande Bharat sleeper train for long distance overnight travel and Vande Metro for short-distance travel will be rolled out.