75 Years of Central Government Budgets (1947-48 to 2021-22) and Finance Commissions of India (I to XV)

75 Years of Central Government Budgets (1947-48 to 2021-22) and Finance Commissions of India (I to XV)

As a financial blueprint of a government, budget is an important instrument to carry out its policies and programmes. It is through the budget that a government arranges financial resources and allocates them among competing uses. The high level of administrative, welfare and developmental activities of the Central Government make for colossal amounts of both receipts and disbursements. Such large-scale public transactions through the budget affect the economy in various ways. The level and composition of taxes influence the allocation of resources among various sectors of the economy, distribution of income among different economic classes, and macro management of the economy. Similarly, the borrowing policy of the Central Government affects the amount of national savings available to the private sector for consumption and investment. No less important are the effects of massive public expenditure on production, distribution and economic stabilization.