100 officials involved in making the Union Budget locked from today

New Delhi, 2 July, 2014

Printing Process for Union Budget 2014-15 Commenced with Halwa Ceremony; more than 100 Officials Involved in Making the Union Budget are Locked in From Today in Press till Union Budget is Presented by the Finance Minister on 10th July, 2014

More than 100 officials involved in making the Union Budget are locked in from today in the Budget Press in North Block and will remain there till the Finance Minister’s Budget Speech is over in Lok Sabha on 10th July, 2014. ‘Halwa Ceremony’ marking the commencement of printing process of Budget documents for Union Budget 2014-15 was held here yesterday in the presence of the Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley. To maintain the secrecy of the Budget preparation process, there is a “lock-in” of the officials involved in making the Budget. Budget Press in North Block houses all these officials in the period leading up to the presentation of Union Budget in Parliament by the Finance Minister. These officers will gain touch with their near and dear ones only after the Union Budget is presented by the Finance Minister on 10th July, 2014.

The Finance Minister Shri Jaitley was accompanied by Ms Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister for State for Finance, Dr Arvind Mayaram, Finance Secretary, Shri R.N Wattal, Secretary (Expenditure), Shri Shaktikanta Das, Revenue Secretary, Shri G.S Sandhu, Secretary, Department of Financial Services (DFS), Chairman, CBDT, Chairperson, CBEC, Joint Secretary (Budget), DEA and other senior officers of the Ministry of Finance among others.

The Annual Budget is prepared by the Budget Division of Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) headed by the Joint Secretary (Budget) of the Ministry of Finance. To start the process, the Budget Division issues an Annual Budget circular every year. This Annual Budget Circular contains detailed instructions for the Union Government Ministries/Departments relating to the form and content of the Statement of Budget Estimates to be prepared.

As per the Constitution, the Union Budget is to be presented in the Parliament on such a day as the President of India may direct. The Union Budget for the current year (2014-15) would be presented on 10th July, 2014.