Union Budget 2024: FM sticks to the plan

Budget taxed and spent smartly, more clarity needed on fiscal path

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in presenting the Union Budget for 2024-25 in Parliament on Tuesday, chose not to emphasise the political context within which her ministry had to work. The government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which now has a third term, has more constraints than it had previously. The reproof it received from some of its core voters meant it had to take employment and inequality seriously. And its new dependence on state-based parties, particularly the Janata Dal (United) of Bihar and the Telugu Desam Party of Andhra Pradesh, meant it was susceptible to demands