75 Years Ago, India’s First Budget; Know Who Presented It

The then Finance Minister RK Shanmukham Chetty broadcasting on AIR after presenting India’s first Budget in 1947. (Photo credit/IndiaHistorypic)

New Delhi: Seventy-five years ago, on November 26, 1947, the country’s first Union Budget was presented by the then Finance Minister RK Shanmukham Chetty.

Shanmukham Chetty arrived at Parliament House in a dark pinstripe suit. He carried the Budget papers in a leather briefcase, a tradition that continued for decades.

Like last year, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday carried the Union Budget 2022 in a tablet with a red sleeve and the national emblem embossed on it.

Covering the period from August 1947 to March 1948, the total revenue was ₹171.15 crore and the total expenditure was ₹197.29 crore. The fiscal deficit was ₹26.24 crore.

The defence sector was allocated ₹92.74 crore. An allocation of ₹56.59 crore was made under capital outlay and ₹20.39 crore set aside for various grants.

Shanmukham Chetty was born in Coimbatore in 1892, where his family owned various mills. Besides being a politician, he was also a lawyer and a renowned economist. He passed away on May 5, 1953.

First Budget of Pre-Independent India

The Budget was introduced in India on April 7, 1860 by Scottish economist and politician James Wilson.