From Briefcase to Bahi-Khata to Tab: How Budget Presentation Has Changed Over the Years

New Delhi: The Union Budget 2024 will be presented in the Parliament today, by the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in a paperless format.

The Budget Presentation has gone through a transformation - from a briefcase to a bahi-khaata to online. Read all about it…

The Evolution of the Budget Presentation

The first budget of Independent India was presented was presented by RK Shanmukham Chetty, the nation's first Finance Minister, on November 26, 1947 and it was carried in a briefcase.

Years later, it was Nirmala Sitharaman who broke that tradition and began carrying the budget in the form of a ‘bahi-khata’. 

It was the incumbent Finance Minister who then changed the budget presentation to paperless format.

First Budget Presented in a Briefcase

The budget being carried in a briefcase, was a tradition which was started by the Britishers and later adopted by India. 

The very first Budget in India was presented during the British era, by a Scottish economist who worked with the East India Company - James Wilson. The red briefcase was used with the monogram of the Queen.

RK Shanmukham Chetty presented the first Budget in India, and carried it in a briefcase.

‘Bahi-Khata’ Introduced by Nirmala Sitharaman

Breaking the years-old tradition, in her first budget presentation, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman decided to do away with the briefcase and introduced the ‘bahi-khata’.

A traditional register of accounts and finances in India, the ‘bahi-khata’ was a symbol of embracing Indian traditions and get rid of the colonial way of presenting the budget in a briefcase.

In 2019 and 2020, FM Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Budget in the form of a ‘bahi-khata’. 

When Budget Presentation Went Online

After two years of presenting the budget in the form of a ‘bahi-khata’, Nirmala Sitharaman brought about another huge change in the budget presentation.

The Finance Minister decided to go ‘online’, to stand by country's efforts towards a ‘Digital India’.

Budget being presented in a paperless format has been of great convenience for the public as it is easily available and is much more hassle-free.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will make history today by presenting her seventh consecutive Budget for 2024-25, surpassing former Prime Minister Morarji Desai's record of six budgets.