Early budget to ensure projects start from from 1 April: Nirmala Sitharaman
Nirmala Sitharaman said that the broad idea of presenting the budget early is that 'you will gain complete one month before its implementation starts from 1 April'
New Delhi: The commerce and industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman has exuded confidence that early budget will help various departments move ahead with their developmental projects from 1 April itself.
The government is planning to unveil the budget for 2017-18 on 1 February instead of the general practice of presenting it on the last working day of February.
Sitharaman said that the broad idea of presenting the budget early is that “you will gain complete one month before its implementation starts from 1 April." The usual practice of unveiling budget on the last working day of February, she said, delayed the whole process as the budget was actually passed after much beyond beginning the new financial year.
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“...the departments which have to spend the money do not get the money in the hand (on time) and as a result of which everything gets pushed by 2-3 months...So actually, you lose out 2-3 important months in a financial year," she told PTI. “Therefore, this step has a definite objective of getting it well on time. Now from 1 April itself, every department (will have) its money and the intention is not to go park the money in a concerned area and keep waiting to act, it should be steady flow of work get done and then move forward," the minister said.
Finance Ministry is gearing up to present the budget for next fiscal around 1 February, advancing the scheduled date by a month so as to complete the entire process by 31 March.
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