Budget likely on Feb 1, survey on Jan 31

Union Budget for 2020-21 may be presented on February 1. "Tradition will continue," Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi said earlier on Friday when asked about whether the government would continue with the tradition of presenting the budget on the first day of February or will there be any change as the first day of February 2020 is Saturday, a non-working day.

New Delhi: Union Budget for 2020-21 may be presented on February 1 and the Economic Survey is likely to be on January 31, Finance Ministry sources said.

In the Economic Survey 2019 which was presented on July 4, a day before the General Budget on July 5 after the Modi government started its second innings in the government, the focus was on "What India needs to become a $10 trillion economy by 2030. India needs to spend 7-8% of its GDP on infrastructure annually to become a $10 trillion economy by 2030".

This will be the first time after 2015-16 when the budget will be presented on Saturday.

"Tradition will continue," Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi said earlier on Friday when asked about whether the government would continue with the tradition of presenting the budget on the first day of February or will there be any change as the first day of February 2020 is Saturday, a non-working day.

Modi Government, in its first term, decided to advance the date of the budget from last working day to first working day. Accordingly, the Union Budget for 2017-18 was presented on February 1, and since then, the tradition has continued.

The idea behind starting the Budget early in February was to complete the budgetary process by March 31, so that expenditure exercise for 12 months could begin on April 1 itself.