FM seals the Interim Union Budget 2024 with Halwa ceremony

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Wednesday observed the customary "Halwa ceremony" in North Block, which marks the final stage of the Budget preparation process for Interim Union Budget 2024.

The ceremony marks the locks-in the process of budget preparation.

Officials involved in budget preparation have to observe a “lock-in” period at their workplaces and isolate themselves with strict rules in place to ensure no details of the budget are leaked out.


Like the last three full Union Budgets, Interim Union Budget 2024 will also be delivered in paperless form on February, 1 2024, however few physical copies are also printed for the purpose of record.


“All the Union Budget documents, including the Annual Financial Statement (commonly known as Budget), Demand for Grants (DG), Finance Bill etc. as prescribed by the Constitution, will available on the “Union Budget Mobile App” for hassle-free access of Budget documents by Members of Parliament (MPs) and the general public using the simplest form of digital convenience,” finance ministry said in a statement issued Wednesday.

The Budget documents will be available on the Mobile App after the completion of the Budget Speech by the Union Finance Minister in Parliament on 1st February, 2024.

The upcoming budget is going to be an interim budget on account of elections ahead and the full budget will be presented in July after the new government is formed.

The Finance Minister was accompanied by Finance Secretary T.V. Somanathan, Secretary, Economic Affairs Ajay Seth, Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra, Secretary, DIPAM, Tuhin Kanta Pandey, chairman, Central Board for Direct taxes (CBDT) Nitin Gupta, chairman, Central Board for Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) Sanjay Kumar Agarwal, Additional Secretary (Budget Ashish Vachhani and others officials and staff of the Ministry of Finance, involved in the Budget preparation and compilation process.