Curtain Raiser: Eco survey and Budget

New Delhi: Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to present the Modi 3.0 government’s first Budget on Tuesday, while Economic Survey 2024 is expected to be tabled in Parliament on Monday — at around 1 PM in the Lok Sabha and 2 PM in the Rajya Sabha. The Economic Survey is crucial as it provides a comprehensive analysis of the past year's economic trends and projections for the upcoming year as well.

The Economic Survey, typically presented a day before the Union Budget, mostly delivers a macroeconomic overview, including gross domestic product or GDP growth rates, inflation statistics, fiscal deficit, current account deficit and sectoral performances among others. This data-driven evaluation also helps stakeholders understand the economy's health, identify emerging challenges and formulate informed decisions.

As the Budget for the fiscal 2024-25 is the Sitharaman’s seventh Budget in a row, there are a host of demands and expectations from the budget, ranging from higher allocation for various initiatives and schemes, including tax relief for middle class and salaried people, significant allocation for education, health and R&D, higher capex to push growth across the country. Besides, the Centre is also expected to follow the fiscal glide path of cutting the fiscal deficit to 4.5 per cent by FY26 in line with the government's roadmap on economic growth.

The Economic Survey is prepared by the chief economic advisor (CEA) to the government. The CEA, along with a team of experts, compiles and analyses economic data from various sources, including government reports, surveys, and international agencies. After presenting the economic review in both Houses of Parliament, the finance minister would also present her seventh Budget there — the third highest number of her budget presentation after Morarji Desai and finance minister P Chidambaram.

Former Prime Minister Morarji Desai holds the record for presenting the most budgets with a total of 10 budgets during his tenure as finance minister under Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and later under Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, while former finance minister P Chidambaram presented the budget on nine occasions.

Sitharaman, who will turn 65 next month, was in 2019 appointed as India’s first full-time woman finance minister when Prime Minister Narendra Modi won a decisive second term. Since then, she has presented six straight budgets, including an interim one in February this year. The full Budget for the 2024-25 fiscal (April 2024 to March 2025) will be her seventh straight, bettering Desai's record, who presented consecutive five full budgets and one interim budget between 1959 to 1964.