Also on the anvil is abolition of distinction between plan and non-plan expenditure and replacing it with capital and revenue expenditure. “States are being consulted for capital and revenue expenditure classification. The GST rate is to be fixed by the GST Council comprising union finance minister and representatives of all 29 states. GST rollout would also subsume various exemptions and cesses, which would do away with the need for their presentation in the budget. In 2001, the NDA government under Atal Bihari Vajpayee changed the ritual and the then finance minister Yashwant Sinha presented the Union Budget at 11 am.

Source: Mint August 21, 2016 10:18 UTC