All About The Union Budget Session & National Housing Bank (NHB)

Every year the government of India announces to the nation the estimated receipts and expenditures done in that year and names it the Union Budget or the Annual Financial Statement. This is following article 112 of the Indian constitution. The Union Budget has all the details of the financial decisions made by the government from 1st year to 31st March which is called the fiscal year. We all must understand this budget thoroughly as it impacts us and the nation as a whole. So let’s get started.

Table of Contents

Features Of The Union Budget of India 2021-22

Let’s see what were the highlights of the union budget of India for the year 2021-22.

The finance minister of India Nirmala Sitharaman announced the budget on 1st February 2021 at 11 am.
It was the first-ever digital presentation by the Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs.
There were 6 essential aspects of the union budget for the year 2021-22.
These were health and wellbeing, physical & financial capital, and infrastructure, inclusive development for aspirational India, reinvigorating human capital, innovation and R&D and minimum government and maximum governance.

Interesting Facts of The Union Budget

Firstly, the word budget comes from ‘bougette’ which means small bag in French.
The Indian budget is the largest in the world.
The responsibility of formulating the union budget is in the hands of the concerned department of economic affairs of the Ministry of Finance.
India’s first-ever budget was presented in 1860 by James Wilson, a Scottish economist and politician.
The first budget presentation after India’s independence was on November 26, 1947, by RK Shanmukhan Chetty.
Indira Gandhi was the first woman finance minister to present the Union to the country. budget
Yashwant Sinha, the finance minister of India changed the timing of the budget presentation to 11 am in 2001. Until then, the budget was presented at 5 pm.
The Union budget was presented only in English until 1955 but later it got changed to both Hindi and English by the congress led government.
The Union Budget is bifurcated into two halves: the revenue budget and the capital budget.

Difference Between Revenue & Capital Budget

As stated above that the Union Budget can be divided into two parts, the revenue budget and the capital budget. Let’s understand what are these one by one –

Revenue Budget

The revenue budget has the government’s revenue receipts and expenditures.
Revenue receipts can be further studied as the tax revenue (income tax, excise duty, corporate tax, etc.) and non-tax revenue (interest, profit, fees, fines, etc.).
Revenue expenditures are the regular expenses that come from the daily functioning of the government.
In the case where the revenue expenditure is greater than the revenue receipts, the government is said to incur a revenue deficit.

Capital Budget

It consists of the government’s capital expenditure and receipts.
The capital budget is the one whose components are of a long-term nature.
Capital expenditure comprises costs of the development and maintenance of equipment, machinery, health facilities, building, education, etc.
When a government’s expenditure is higher than the net revenue collected, a state of fiscal deficit happens.

Facts About The National Housing Bank (NHB)

Have you ever heard of the National Housing Bank? Now you will just read the points mentioned below to know what it is and what it does.

NHB an apex financial institution for housing was established by an Act of Parliament in 1987.
The primary functions of NHB are building a well-rounded housing finance system that is secure, cost-effective, and viable.
NHB is responsible for the supervision and addressing grievances related to Housing Finance Companies (HFCs).
The NHB supervises HFCs while regulation of HFCs comes from the Reserve Bank Of India.
Furthermore, the National Housing Bank takes care of the Financing, Promotion and Development.

We hope this article served its purpose well. Through this article, we have tried to touch upon all the aspects related to the Indian Union Budget with some interesting facts for general knowledge along with the information related to NHB. Stay with us for more informative content.