Peek Into History: India Budget, 1949-50

The Budget Speech of the Finance Minister in 1949-50 provides fascinating insights.

The major issues that the country had to grapple with include the problem of refugee resettlement, cyclone as well as famine in parts of Gujarat, Rajasthan and Saurashtra, apart from the usual challenges arising from the complexity of integration, etc.

The country imported about 2.8 million tonnes of food grains at a cost of Rs.130 crores, more than estimated. The country produced 29.73 million tonnes of Coal and 854,000 tonnes of Steel.

The Revenue Receipts of the country was Rs.338.22 crores, while the Total Expenditure was Rs.339.87 an increase of Rs.82.49 crores over the previous Budget estimate. Among the major items of expenditure Defence accounted for Rs.157.37 cores while Civil expenditure accounted for Rs.165.16 crores. The expenditure on refugee related activities amounted to Rs.52.82 crores.

The Government set aside a princely sum of Rs.6.98 crores to meet the expenditure towards the establishment of The Shipping Corporation of India.

The major sources of Revenue were Central Excise: Rs.107.25 crores, Income Tax: Rs.155 crores, Posts & Telegraphs Rs.30.26 crores (after expenditure of Rs.28.63 crores, there was a surplus of Rs.1.68 crores.

The Balance of Payments Position was critical and the government deficit of US$45 million in the six months from April-September 1948.

The exchange rate between the Great British Pound to the US Dollar was in the ratio of 1:4.