On February 1, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will be presenting the Union Budget. However, the Budget session could be stormy on account of the current protests over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, and the economic slowdown.
Sitharaman's task would be to stage a reversal of the sharp economic slowdown that has gripped Asia's third-largest economy with an official data suggesting earlier this week that Gross Domestic Product growth is likely to shrink to 5 per cent this fiscal, the slowest in about a decade.
Here’s all you need to know about the second Union Budget:
Date and time:
The budget session will begin on January 31 at 11 a.m. President Ram Nath Kovind will begin the joint session of both parliamentary houses with a speech.
According to the Lok Sabha calendar, the Union Budget of 2020 will be presented on Saturday, February 1 at 11 a.m.
Where to watch:
Lok Sabha TV and Rajya Sabha TV will run a live telecast of the Union Budget presentation. You can follow the link below to view the 2020 Union Budget session:
Rajya Sabha TV: https://rajyasabha.nic.in/rsnew/webcast/rstvlive.html
Lok Sabha TV: https://webcast.gov.in/lstvlive/
Budget session of Parliament:
Since the Modi-government merged the Railway and Union budgets in 2017, the date of the presentation has also been preponed by a month (to February 1).
The Budget session of Parliament will commence on January 31 and subject to the exigencies of government business, it is likely to conclude on April 3 with a 19-day recess in between, an official communique said on Wednesday.
The decision to hold the Budget session in two phases -- from January 31 to February 11 and March 2 to April 3, was taken following a recommendation of the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs, said sources.
Chief Economic Adviser KV Subramanian might table the Economic Survey in the Rajya Sabha on February 1, 2020.
The Winter Session of the Parliament, at the end of 2019, was marked by Opposition protests over various issues, including political developments in Maharashtra. Several Important Bills were tabled and passed during the session including the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act.