A Step-By-Step Guide To Budget Preparation

Union Budget is an annual report which contains the government's revenue and expenditure for a particular fiscal year, which runs from April 1 to March 31. It is prepared by the budget division in the Ministry of Finance after consulting with other ministries. The government is scheduled to present an interim Budget on February 1, 2019. Unlike a full-year budget, an interim budget covers a smaller period of time, usually few months.

 Here's a look at how the Budget is prepared:

1. The preparation for Union Budget starts from August or September. The finance minister and ministry officials initially meet representatives from the private sector, non-governmental organisations and other stakeholders to understand their expectations from the Budget.

2. The budget division issues an annual budget circular which consists of comprehensive instructions to all government ministries or departments for calculation of budget estimates.

3. The Finance Ministry then comes up with an estimate of how much money is available in the next financial year to spend on plan schemes.

4. Final estimates of Plan and non-Plan expenditure for the next year, and revised estimates for the current year, are drawn up.

5. The next step is to decide how to raise money to meet expenditures for next year. Ministries provide their estimates to the finance ministry on how much money they expect to earn next year.

6. The ceremony for the announcement of the Union Budget starts with a traditional "Halwa" ceremony, which marks the beginning of the printing process of the Budget.

7. The Budget team consolidates all figures of the proposed budget and prepares the final budget proposal.

8. The President's recommendation is required to be obtained under Article 117(1) and 117(3) for introduction and consideration in Lok Sabha, the lower house of Parliament.

9. After President's recommendation, the budget is presented in Lok Sabha.

10. The Finance Bill, containing provisions for giving effect to financial proposals of government, is introduced immediately after the presentation of Budget. This completes the budgetary process.