In the presence of the Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister, Smt. Nirmala Sitharamanthe final stage of the Budget Making process was marked with the Halwa Ceremony for the Union Budget 2021-22 in the North Block. Before the “Lock in” process of the Budget preparation starts, the customary Halwa Ceremony is conducted each year.

For the very first time, this year’s Union Budget will be will be given through a paperless format. This is quite an unprecedented initiative taken by the ministry. The date is set on February 1, 2021 for presenting the Union Budget 2021 - 22.

The “Union Budget Mobile App” was launched on the said occasion by the Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman. This app will help the Ministers of Parliament (MPs) as well as the general public to have an easy access to the Union Budget. This app also makes sure that everyone has the access to all the 14 Union Budget documents which includes the following as provided by the Constitution:

·         The Annual Finance Statement, which is commonly referred as the Budget.

·         The Demand for Grants (DG)

·         The Finance Bill, etc.

The “Union Budget Mobile App” is equipped with user friendly interface and also includes the following facility:

·         Downloading

·         Search

·         Bidirectional scrolling

·         External links

·         Printing

·         Zoom in and out

·         Table of contents, etc.

This is a bilingual app meaning available in two languages, namely Hindi and English. This app is available on both the operating devices i.e. Android as well as iOS. The users also have an option to download the app from http://www.indiabudget.gov.in from the web portal of the Union Budget. Under the direction and supervision of the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) this app has been created by the National Informatics Centre (NIC).

As soon as the Budget Speech is completed by the Finance Minister, the documents related to Budget will be made available on the App, i.e. on February 1, 2021.

The following ministers were also present at the Halwa Ceremony to accompany the Finance Minister, the Union Minister of State for Finance & Corporate Affairs Shri Anurag Singh Thakur; Shri T.V. Somanathan, Secretary, Expenditure; Shri TuhinKanta Pandey, SecretaryDIPAM; Dr K.V. Subramanian, Chief Economic Advisor; Dr A.B. Pandey, Finance Secretary & Secretary (Revenue);Shri Tarun Bajaj, Secretary, Economic Affairs;Shri Debashish Panda, Secretary, Financial Services;Shri Rajat Kumar Mishra, Additional Secretary (Budget) along with various other ministers.

Shri P.C. Mody, Chairman, CBDT as well as Shri M. Ajit Kumar, Chairman, CBICwere also present at the Halwa Ceremony along with the officers and staff from the Finance Ministry who are a part of the Budget Preparation and the Compilation of the same