Lesser-known facts about The Great Indian Budget

Budget is one of the most important activities of the government, which is closely watched and analysed by all stakeholders of the economy. This year, too, the scenario seems no different. Well, what the government has in store will be something to watch out for. For now, let's run through some of the interesting facts related to the Budget that you should know. (Source: Wikipedia)

Morarji Desai, who first took charge of the finance ministry in 1958, presented the Budget ten times-the most by any finance minister till date.

Jawaharlal Lal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi presented the Union Budget themselves during their prime ministerial tenures.

The 1965-66 Budget contained the first disclosure scheme for black money.

Indira Gandhi is the only woman to hold the office of finance minister in India till now. Gandhi held office from 16 July 1969 to 27 June 1970.

The Budget of 1973-74 is also known as 'Black Budget'. This is because budget deficit that year amounted up to Rs 550 crore.

VP Singh was the first finance minister to stress on concessions for the poor in his 1986 Budget.

Singh proposed bank loans with subsidies for rickshaw pullers, cobblers, formation of small industries development bank and an accident insurance scheme for municipal sweepers and railway porters.

Yashwant Sinha, who was the finance minister from 1998 to 2002, changed the timing of Budget presentation to 11 am. Before that, the timing was 5 pm.