The Union government is scheduled to present the annual budget in Parliament on February 1. To be presented by officiating Finance Minister Piyush Goyal, in the absence of Arun Jaitley who is unwell and has been advised rest, the Union Budget 2019 will be the last of the current NDA regime as the general elections are due in May this year. The Budget Session of Parliament is scheduled to begin on January 31 and end on February 13. With the Lok Sabha elections due later this year to elect a new government at the centre, the Finance Ministry is set to present an interim budget, which covers a smaller period of time and not the complete financial year, this year.

When to watch Union Budget 2019?

The budget speech will start around 11 am in Parliament on February 1.

Where to watch Union Budget 2019?

Lok Sabha TV, like last year, is scheduled to air the Union Budget presentation live.

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When is the Railway Budget 2019?

Like last year, the Union Railway Budget will be presented along with the Union Budget 2019. For 92 years, the Railway Budget had preceded the Union Budget, having been presented a couple of days before. The NDA government scrapped the practice in 2016, making an announcement to this effect in September that year.

When will the Economic Survey 2019 be presented?

As per the general practice followed by Indian Parliament, the Economic Survey is released a day before the Union Budget is presented. It summarises the annual economic development in the country and suggests mobilisation of resources and their allocation in the budget to be presented that year. in 2018, the Economic Survey was presented on January 29, the first day of the Budget Session 2018. The Budget Session of Parliament is beginning on 31 January this year, but there has been no announcement yet on the presentation of Economic Survey.  Quoting a Finance Ministry official, a report in financialexpress.com said the Economic Survey 2019 would not be tabled.

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Union Budget 2019: 5 key points you should know

1. The budget division of the MoF prepares the Union Budget after holding consultations with other ministries. The printing process for Union Budget 2019 documents started last week with the customary ‘Halwa’ ceremony.

2. Union Budget document contains the government’s revenue and expenditure for the ensuing financial year (April 1 to March 31), consolidating revenue from all sources and outlays for all departments.

3. The budget document, read out by the finance minister,  consists of the budget speech, the annual financial statement, finance bill, demand for grants and outlays for different activities to be undertaken over the next fiscal.

4. It is going to be an interim budget this year. Presented in the election year, an interim budget usually covers only a few months and not the complete fiscal. It is followed by another budget that is presented by the new government. In 2014, then FM P Chidambaram had presented an interim budget on 17 February, and was followed by a full-year budget on 10 July 2014 after the NDA government came to power.

5. For many years before and after Independence, the Union Budget had been presented at 5 pm on the last working day of February. The custom was discontinued in 1999, when the then finance minister Yashwant Sinha started the practice of announcing the Union Budget at 11 am.