Interim Budget 2024 preparation in last lap
FM Nirmala Sitharaman giving finishing touches to the Budget which will be presented on Feb 1
image for illustrative purpose
New Delhi: The preparation of the Interim Budget 2024 has entered the last lap with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and her team of top Finance Ministry officials giving the final touches to the document as North Block has been put in lock-down mode to ensure complete secrecy after the ‘halwa ceremony’.
According to sources, there is a lot of back and forth with the team of PMO officials headed by PK Mishra, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, and the Finance Ministry officials.
These discussions ensure that the thrust of the schemes drawn up by the Prime Minister with his close understanding of the ground realities, are adequately presented in the fine-print of the budget.
Finance Secretary TV Somanathan, a Tamil Nadu cadre officer who served as additional secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) before joining the Finance Ministry, is a key link between the two teams.
The top members of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s team spearheading the budget-making exercise in the ministry include Sanjay Malhotra, the Revenue Secretary, Ajay Seth, Secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs, Tuhin Kanta Pandey, Secretary of the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management, Vivek Joshi, Secretary of the Department of Financial Services and V Anantha Nageswaran, the Chief Economic Advisor.
During the printing of the Union Budget in North Block, most officials have to stay put in the office with no communication with the outside world during the days ahead of the budget. It is only after the budget is presented on February 1 that they will be allowed to go home.
The last week is the culmination of a 6-month budget preparation exercise in which all the ministries such as agriculture, rural development, industry, power, highways and ports prepare their estimates and present them to the Finance Ministry.
