Budget 2019: Know all about the traditions surrounding the Union budget

New Delhi, Feb 01: The Union Government is all set to present the Interim Budget for the fiscal year of 2019-20 on February 1. Here is a look at some traditions surrounding the Union budget:

Halwa ceremony
The traditional sweet dish is prepared and distributed among Finance Ministry officials in the presence of the finance minister to mark the beginning of printing documents related to the Budget.

Budget briefcase
The Budget documents are carried in a leather briefcase with different shades of red and brown. This tradition continues from the British era, who used a Gladstone box.

Where Budget documents are printed
The documents concerning the Budget are of paramount importance and in order to maintain secrecy and security, it is printed in a special government press in the North Block. Initially, these documents used to be printed in Rashtrapati Bhavan but after a leak in 1950, it was shifted to another location in Minto Road in the national capital before finally settling for the North Block.

Presentation date and time
Before 1999, the Budget was presented at 5 pm on the last day of February, Yashwant Sinha changed the time to 11 am. In 2016, the date of presentation was changed too, Arun Jaitley presented the budget on February 1.

Budget speech
The Budget speech is made in two parts, where the first contains an overview of the economy and major policy initiatives, while the second recommends tax proposals. However, after the introduction of GST, the Part B has become truncated, since most indirect tax changes are carried outside the Budget.