Budget week may begin on March 5

With Assembly elections in five states slated to be held from January 28 to March 3, the Business Advisory Committee of the Lok Sabha will soon decide on the new date for the presentation of the 2012 General Budget.With February 29 ruled out as it clashes with the election schedule, the government is examining the implication for financial business if the Budget week is postponed to March 5. The postponement will not, however, affect the pre-Budget consultations, due to begin on January 11, say government sources.The Election Commission on Saturday announced the schedule for elections to five state assemblies.The finance ministry has usually favoured Friday as the day for presenting the Budget if the traditional slot of February 28 is not available due to any reason. But that will stretch the Budget to March 9, with the Railway Budget and the Economic Survey to be presented earlier in the week.A two-week-long postponement means several headaches for the government. Maintaining secrecy of the Budget papers would require huge bandobast. The delay would also squeeze the time available for clearing the interim expenditure budget of the government, which has to be done before March 31. All this would mean Parliament having to rush through this business while relegating everything else to the background. It would also mean pushing the recess to April when the standing committees examine the detailed demand for grants by each ministries.March is also the month when the industry pays its advance tax and the government clears expenditure arrears. The postponement of the Budget means ministries would have a much smaller window to squeeze in their final expenditure. The sum involved, despite efforts to front-load expenditure, ranges anywhere between R2-3 lakh crore.The finance ministry plans to begin its pre-Budget consultations with different segments of the economy from January 11.On the first day, agriculturists are likely to be called, while industrialists will meet the finance minister on January 13. Other groups, which will meet Pranab Mukherjee are those from the financial sector, trade unions and economists.The meetings are usually the last forum for the sectors to try to influence the Budget. Finance ministers usually avoid making any statements at these meetings.