Final stage of preparations for Interim Union Budget 2024 commences with Halwa Ceremony

The Halwa ceremony, which marked the final stage of the budget preparation process for the Interim Union Budget 2024, took place today in North Block in the presence of Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman and Union Minister of State for Finance Dr. Bhagwat Kisanrao Karad.

A customary Halwa ceremony is performed every year before the “lock-in” process of Budget preparation begins.

The Interim Union Budget 2024 will be presented in paperless form, as have the previous three full Union Budgets. The Interim Union Budget 2024 will be announced on February 1st, 2024.

All Union Budget documents, including the Annual Financial Statement (commonly known as Budget), Demand for Grants (DG), Finance Bill, and other documents required by the Constitution, will be available on the “Union Budget Mobile App” for easy access by Members of Parliament (MPs) and the general public through the most basic form of digital convenience. It is bilingual (English and Hindi) and will be available for Android and iOS devices. The App is also available for download via the Union Budget Web Portal.

The Budget papers will be available on the Mobile App following the completion of the Union Finance Minister’s Budget Speech in Parliament on February 1, 2024.

At the Halwa Ceremony, the Union Finance Minister was also accompanied by Dr. T.V. Somanathan, Finance Secretary & Secretary Expenditure; Shri Ajay Seth, Secretary, Economic Affairs; Shri Tuhin Kanta Pandey, Secretary, DIPAM; Shri Sanjay Malhotra, Secretary, Revenue; Shri Nitin Gupta, Chairman, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT); Shri Sanjay Kumar Agarwal, Chairman, Central Board for Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC); and Shri Ashish Vachhani, Additional Secretary (Budget), besides others officers and staff of the Ministry of Finance, involved in the Budget preparation and compilation process, were also present on the occasion.

As part of the ceremony, the Union Finance Minister also took a round of the Budget Press and reviewed the preparations besides extending her best wishes to the officials concerned.