Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will be presenting the 2024 Interim Union Budget on February 1. Like the previous three full Union Budgets, Interim Union Budget 2024 will also be tabled in paperless, digital mode.
The Finance Ministry said in a release on January 24 that all the Budget documents will be available in digital mode on the ‘Union Budget Mobile App’, and shall be accessible to all. It will be bilingual and will be accessible to both iOS and Android users.
The ministry statement read: “All the Union Budget documents, including the Annual Financial Statement (commonly known as Budget), Demand for Grants (DG), Finance Bill, etc., as prescribed by the Constitution, will be available on the ‘Union Budget Mobile App’ for hassle-free access of Budget documents by Members of Parliament (MPs) and the general public using the simplest form of digital convenience. It is bilingual (English & Hindi) and will be available on both Android and iOS platforms. The App can also be downloaded from the Union Budget Web Portal (www.indiabudget.gov.in).”
The Budget documents will be available on the mobile application after the completion of the Budget Speech by the Union Finance Minister in Parliament on February 1, 2024.
After presenting her debut Budget in 2019, FM Nirmala Sitharaman had expressed the need to move away from the traditional ‘bahi khata’ to tablets, which she explained, would be a welcome departure from colonial practices and also “easier to carry”.
The first Budget to be presented digitally was the Union Budget 2021-2022 when Sitharaman carried a digital tablet enclosed in a red casing with an insignia of the national emblem. This move was also fuelled by the need to go paperless in response to the coronavirus pandemic.