Budget 2025 Trivia: Halwa ceremony, longest speech; 15 key terms, facts to know ahead of February 1 presentation
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to present the Budget 2025-26 on February 1. The presentation will mark Sitharaman's 8th budget speech as the finance minister of India. A look at the top 15 terms and interesting facts you should know ahead of the Budget presentation.
Budget 2025: India is awaiting Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's presentation of the upcoming Budget 2025 on February 1 in Parliament. As the clock ticks on the Union Budget, here is everything you need to know, from key terms to interesting facts.
This year's budget announcement will mark the second full Budget of the Modi 3.0 government since re-election in 2024.
Budget 2025: Top five interesting facts
1. India's first budget was presented by RK Shanmukham Chetty in 1947, after the country's independence. It was an interim budget, covering a period of seven and a half months until March 31, 1948, to battle the nation's economic headwinds.
2. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman still holds the title for the longest budget speech in 2020, which was a 2.42-hour budget announcement on February 1, 2020.
3. Halwa ceremony is a traditional ceremony in which every year, “halwa”, a traditional Indian dessert, is prepared and served to officials and staff members of the finance ministry who are involved in preparing the budget. It is one of the longest-standing traditions still followed by the government.
4. In 1950, under Finance Minister John Mathai, the Union Budget was leaked during the printing process. After the leak, the printing process was shifted from Rashtrapati Bhawan to Minto Road. Later, in 1980, it was shifted to the North Block basement.
5. Until 1955, the Union Budget was exclusively in English, then after 1955-56, the annual financial document was presented in both English and Hindi. This tradition was initiated by Finance Minister CD Deshmukh.
Also Read | How to explain the budget to an engineer
15 terms you need to know
- Budget Estimates (BE): A Budget Estimate is the estimated amount of funds which are announced to be allotted to a specific Ministry. This figure is also used to determine the usage and the costs estimated to be spent in the period.
- Capital expenditure (capex): The capex is the total amount of money that the government plans to use to boost the economy.
- Cess: This is an additional charge added to the income tax to fund objectives like healthcare and education.
- Direct Tax: Direct taxes are imposed on people and companies in the form of income tax and corporate tax.
- Disinvestment: This is a process which the government carries out to sell its existing assets.
- Economic survey: The economic survey is a document which sheds light on the country's performance in the financial year and paves the way for the upcoming budget.
- Fiscal deficit: The fiscal deficit is the value of difference between the total spending and the total revenues of a nation in the previous financial year.
- Fiscal policy: It is the policy measure used to monitor the nation's economic position and estimate taxation and government spending.
- Indirect taxes: Indirect taxes are imposed on taxpayers through goods and services. India has GST, VAT, and customs duty, among other indirect taxes.
- Inflation: Inflation is an increase in the overall prices of goods and services in a country. As the inflation of a nation rises, the overall purchasing power of the country falls.
- New tax regime: The new tax regime is a seven-tax-slab income tax format that reduces rates by eliminating tax deductions.
- Old tax regime: The old tax regime has only four income tax slabs, with the highest rate of tax at 30 per cent for incomes above ₹10 lakh.
- Rebate: A rebate is a reduction in total income tax, which, in turn, reduces the tax burden on people.
- Tax collected at source (TCS): The TCS is the tax value which is collected by a seller from a buyer at the time of sale of goods or services.
- Tax deduction: Tax deductions are similar to a discount, which lowers the taxable amount of an individual or an entity.
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Business NewsBudgetBudget 2025 Trivia: Halwa ceremony, longest speech; 15 key terms, facts to know ahead of February 1 presentation
First Published:25 Jan 2025, 10:35 PM IST
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