Budget 2024: Will Modi government make big bang announcements? Here’s what FM Sitharaman has said

India Budget 2024: Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced that the upcoming budget 2024 of the Modi government will not include any major announcements ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. According to an ET report, Sitharaman has said that as per the tradition it will be an interim budget, as the Lok Sabha elections are scheduled for early next year. The full budget for the fiscal year 2024-25 will be presented after the formation of the new government following the general elections.Sitharaman clarified that the Vote on Account, which is the interim budget, does not entail any significant announcements. Its purpose is to meet the government's expenditure until a new government takes charge. This will be Sitharaman's sixth budget, with her first full budget being presented in July 2019. The interim budget for 2024-25 is expected to be presented on February 1st.The Narendra Modi-led government had broken away from the colonial-era tradition of presenting the budget in February-end. Former finance minister Arun Jaitley initiated the practice of presenting the annual budget on February 1st in 2017. In September of this year, the Finance Ministry began the process of preparing the interim budget for 2024-25 by seeking inputs on expenditure from various ministries and departments. The budget estimates for the upcoming fiscal year will be provisionally finalized after the completion of pre-budget meetings. These meetings discuss the fund requirements for different categories of expenditures and review the receipts of ministries or departments.Recently, the Indian government requested parliament's approval for additional spending of Rs 1.29 trillion in the current fiscal year. This additional spending primarily focuses on higher subsidies for farmers and a rural job employment program. The government has stated that the net additional spending for the current fiscal year, which ends on March 31st, will amount to Rs 58,378 crore. The remaining amount will be accommodated through expense reshuffling. According to government officials who preferred to remain anonymous, the additional spending in this fiscal year will not lead to a wider budget deficit beyond the targeted 5.9% of the gross domestic output. They believe that tax collections will be higher than anticipated, as reported by Reuters.