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

In India, the Central Government budget is designed mainly to ensure Parliamentary control and accounting scrutiny. Each year the Government has to obtain the authority of the Parliament to raise revenues to meet its expenditure. Budget of the government is perhaps the most important annual item on the agenda of the Parliament. Budget papers of the Government of India provide glimpses of the events, challenges, and perceptions of the leaders. They highlight contemporary problems of the Indian economy and policy measures taken by the government to solve them, making for a fascinating study of India’s march towards development. Fiscal federalism is a subject of topical interest in India in view of some recent developments of historical importance. The Constitution (Eightieth Amendment) Act, 2000, significantly changed the manner of distribution of Central tax collections between the Central and State Governments. Spread over 29 chapters, the book is organized into 2 parts. Part I (chapters 1 to 7) is titled Government Budgeting Procedures in India. Part II (chapters 8 to 29) is titled Centre-State Financial Relations (Fiscal Federalism) in India.