Union Budget 20203-2024: This is Nirmala Sitharaman's fifth budget presentation
Just like last year, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget 2023-2024 in a paperless format today.
Nirmala Sitharam carried a digital tablet wrapped in a traditional Bahi-Khata style pouch with the national emblem embossed on it as she headed to Parliament to present the budget.
She also posed for a picture outside her office along with her team of officials. This is Ms Sitharaman's fifth budget presentation since she took the charge of the Finance Ministry in 2019.
Ms Sitharaman had in July 2019 ditched the colonial legacy of a 'Budget Briefcase' for the traditional 'Bahi-Khata' to carry Union Budget papers. She used the same in 2020.
In a pandemic-hit 2021, she swapped traditional papers with a digital tablet for carrying her speech as well as other Budget documents.
The same year, the Finance Minister also launched the 'Union Budget Mobile App' for hassle-free access of Budget documents by the parliamentarians and the public.
On Tuesday, Ms Sitharaman tabled the Economic Survey for the Financial Year 2022-23 in the Lok Sabha, stating that the economic recovery of India from the COVID-19 pandemic is complete and the economy is expected to grow in the range of 6 to 6.8 per cent in the coming financial year. This is in comparison to the estimated 7 per cent this fiscal and 8.7 per cent in 2021-22.