A revenue deficit is when expenditure on recurring items such as salaries, pensions, subsidies, and interest payments exceed the revenue earned from regular sources such as taxes and fees.  (Representational image)
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In a notification dated September 17, the Ministry of Finance notified that appeals against orders communicated before April 1, 2026, can be filed up to June 30, 2026.
| Photo Credit: Getty Image/iStockPhoto

People waiting in a queue to get relief amount under Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana, at a bank in Vijayawada.
| Photo Credit: K.V.S. Giri

In May this year, the Ministry of Finance released India’s draft Climate Finance Taxonomy for public consultation. As a foundational tool, the taxonomy aims to mobilise climate-aligned investments, prevent greenwashing, and clarify for investors which sectors, technologies and practices contribute to mitigation, adaptation, or transition. Importantly, the document calls itself a “living” framework, adaptable to India’s evolving priorities and international obligations. However, its success as a credible governance tool will depend on how it operationalises this principle.

The review architecture

Herein is a proposed review mechanism that is structured for the taxonomy, drawing from the recent regulatory innovations under the Paris Agreement’s Article 6.4 Mechanism. The Article 6.4 Supervisory Body has adopted a legal and editorial review system for climate market instruments. These principles offer a useful reference for India’s taxonomy to ensure investor confidence, legal clarity, and domestic-international alignment.

The review system for the climate finance taxonomy should function on two complementary levels. First, there must be a periodic review mechanism that allows for timely course correction.

These reviews should be annual and triggered by implementation gaps, evolving international obligations, stakeholder feedback, or policy changes. To be effective, they must follow a structured and predictable process, with fixed timelines, clear documentation protocols, and mandatory public consultation.

Alongside this, a recurring review should be institutionalised every five years. This deeper, more comprehensive, process would reassess the taxonomy in light of emerging trends in carbon markets, shifts in global climate finance definitions, and lessons learned from sectoral transitions. A five-year cycle corresponds with India’s updated Nationally Determined Contributions timeline and the global stocktake process under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Together, these two levels of review would ensure that the taxonomy remains both responsive in the short term and resilient in the long term.

The substantive aspect of the review

Two key aspects must form the basis of any meaningful review: legal coherence and substantive content clarity. The legal assessment should examine the taxonomy’s alignment with India’s laws: Energy Conservation Act, SEBI norms, Carbon Credit Trading Scheme, and international obligations. The review should ensure enforceability, remove redundancies, clarify overlaps and harmonise terms. In addition, the review must identify interdependencies between climate finance mandates and other economic or fiscal measures such as green bonds, blended finance schemes, or environmental risk disclosures, so that revisional inconsistencies are avoided.

The substantive editorial review must ensure that the taxonomy remains readable, coherent and technically precise. Definitions must reflect evolving market standards and be usable by both experts and non-experts.

Where quantitative thresholds exist, for instance, greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets or energy efficiency benchmarks, these must be updated with empirical data and stakeholder input.

These reviews should ensure the taxonomy remains accessible for micro, small and medium enterprises, the informal sector, and vulnerable communities, crucial for net-zero goals, but which face barriers. It should provide simplified entry points, staggered compliance timelines, and proportionate expectations, especially in agriculture and small manufacturing.

Institutionalising accountability

To support such a review structure, the Ministry of Finance should establish a standing unit within the Department of Economic Affairs or an expert committee composed of stakeholders from financial regulators, climate science institutions, legal experts and civil society. Public dashboards can be developed to receive inputs, document implementation experiences and publish review reports. These measures will ensure the taxonomy evolves predictably and transparently

Annual review summaries and five-year revision proposals must be made available to the public, ideally in a consolidated format, to improve investor confidence and ease of access. This will also enable better coordination with parallel instruments such as India’s carbon market mechanisms, disclosure obligations and green bond frameworks.

The taxonomy’s rollout coincides with critical developments in India’s climate finance ecosystem. The Carbon Credit Trading Scheme is expected to be fully operationalised, green bonds are entering mainstream portfolios, including on the stock market, and the pressure to align public investment flows with long-term climate goals is rising. A weak or opaque taxonomy will undercut these efforts. A ‘living document’ is only as effective as the process that keeps it alive through active review, transparent revision, and structured engagement. It is hoped that such consideration will form a part of the final climate taxonomy framework.

Shashank Pandey is a lawyer and a former Research Fellow at the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy

Published – August 20, 2025 12:08 am IST

Representational image only.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

The Economic Survey, a pre-budget document detailing the state of the economy over the last fiscal year, will be presented in Parliament at 12 p.m. on Friday by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

The presentation comes a day before the much-anticipated arrival of the Union Budget 2025-26.

The survey will be tabled in Lok Sabha at 12 pm and in Rajya Sabha at 2 pm.

The Economic Survey is prepared under the supervision of the Chief Economic Advisor V. Anantha Nageswaran and includes insights into the economy prepared by the economic division of the Department of Economic Affairs in the Ministry of Finance.

The document not only details the current state of the economy but also provides an outlook for the upcoming fiscal year. It can also be an indicator of the tone and texture of the Union Budget.

The presentation of the Economic Survey will kickstart the Budget Session of Parliament, which concludes on April 4. Parliament will have an inter-session break from February 14 and will resume on March 10.

The theme of the Economic Survey also holds significance. In 2024, the theme was economic resilience. The theme sets the tone for the policies which are proposed in the Union Budget as well.

Before the budget is presented, conventionally a Cabinet meeting headed by the Prime Minister is also held, where Ministers are briefed about the Budget and Cabinet approval is taken.

Ahead of the Union Budget presentation, President Droupadi Murmu will also address a joint seating of Parliament on Friday.

The Union Budget will be presented on February 1.

President Murmu will address the joint sitting of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha at 11 a.m. on Friday.

After the President’s address, Finance Minister Sitharaman will table the Economic Survey in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha separately.

Finance Minister Sitharaman will present the Union Budget on Saturday for the eighth consecutive time.

The Budget Session will be held from January 31 to April 4 in two phases. The first part of the Session will end on February 13 and the second phase will begin on March 10.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

The Economic Survey 2023-24 will be tabled by the Centre in both houses of Parliament today. The Economic Survey document, prepared by the Ministry of Finance, give insights into the state of the economy and various indicators of 2023-24.

The Economic Survey 2023-24 will be presented in Lok Sabha at 1 pm and in Rajya Sabha at 2 pm, followed by a press conference by Chief Economic Adviser Anantha Nageswaran.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget in the Parliament on Tuesday.

Here are the LIVE updates for this story:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives at the Parliament, ahead of the commencement of the Budget Session of Parliament today.

Congress MP Manish Tewari gives adjournment notice in Lok Sabha to discuss border situation with China

Congress MP Manish Tewari today gave an adjournment motion notice in the Lok Sabha demanding a discussion on the border situation and India’s trade deficit with China.

“I hereby give notice of my intention to ask for leave to move a motion for the adjournment of the business of the house for the purpose of discussing a definite matter of urgent importance. That this House do suspend Zero Hour and relevant rules relating to Question Hour and other businesses of the day to have a discussion on the border situation and the huge trade deficit with China,” Mr Tewari stated.

He further stated that, since 2019, there have been ongoing border clashes between India and China, with reports of Chinese troops blocking access to patrolling points in Eastern Ladakh.

Budget Session LIVE Updates:

On Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to table the Economic Survey Report 2023-2024, Priyanka Chaturvedi says, “The Economic Survey is clear in front of the nation. The central government has failed to control issues of corruption, unemployment, inflation, etc… It has failed in supporting businesses and MSMEs and preventing banking frauds. The country has seen the X-ray of this economic survey earlier, which is why the people did not give the complete majority to the central government…”

#WATCH | Delhi: On Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to table the Economic Survey Report 2023-2024, Priyanka Chaturvedi says, “The Economic Survey is clear in front of the nation. The central government has failed to control issues of corruption, unemployment, inflation,… pic.twitter.com/ATAAS8pNXU

– ANI (@ANI) July 22, 2024

Parliament Budget Session Updates:

On the Parliament Session, MoS Parliamentary Affairs, Arjun Ram Meghwal says “We had an all-party meeting yesterday in which all the issues of the Opposition were mentioned by them, we have noted down. Now in Lok Sabha, the day and time of discussion will be decided by the Speaker and in Rajya Sabha, the Chairman will decide. The government is ready for discussion. As Rajnath Singh said yesterday that it is everyone’s responsibility to run the House, it will be a good discussion…”

#WATCH | On the Parliament Session, MoS Parliamentary Affairs, Arjun Ram Meghwal says “We had an all-party meeting yesterday in which all the issues of the Opposition were mentioned by them, we have noted down. Now in Lok Sabha, the day and time of discussion will be decided by… pic.twitter.com/JkflzMMQvs

– ANI (@ANI) July 22, 2024

Parliament Budget Session LIVE Updates:

On Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to table the Economic Survey Report 2023-2024, RSP MP NK Premachandran says, “…We expect some exemptions, especially in direct tax. The government is well served because RBI has already provided Rs 2.11 lakh crores as dividends. The government has never expected such an amount from the RBI. It is double the expectations of the government. Another favourable factor is regarding the direct tax collection… It is a favourable condition for the government because they have never expected such an amount from the RBI. So, it is the best opportunity to provide some exemptions and privileges to the middle-class section of society…”

#WATCH | Delhi: On Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to table the Economic Survey Report 2023-2024, RSP MP NK Premachandran says, “…We expect some exemptions, especially in direct tax. The government is well served because RBI has already provided Rs 2.11 lakh crores as… pic.twitter.com/TV7bKRnkBB

– ANI (@ANI) July 22, 2024

Congress MP Manickam Tagore gives adjournment notice in Lok Sabha to discuss “paper leaks”

Congress MP Manickam Tagore on Monday gave an adjournment motion notice in Lok Sabha, demanding a discussion on the ongoing controversy over the alleged irregularities in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) and University Grants Commission-National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET) conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA).

In his notice, Manickam Tagore urged the House to suspend all listed business of the day to discuss the “unprecedented cases of paper leaks in conduct of exams including NEET-UG and UGC NET and the failure of National Testing Agency (NTA).”

What Is Economic Survey

The Economic Survey document, prepared by the Economic Division of the Department of Economic Affairs in the Ministry of Finance and formulated under the supervision of the chief economic adviser, will give insights into the state of the economy and various indicators of 2023-24 (April-March) and some outlook for the current year. Read more

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to table Economic Survey in Parliament today

• Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will table the Economic Survey 2023-24 along with a statistical appendix in Parliament today, a day ahead of the Union Budget.
• The Budget Session of Parliament will commence today and subject to the exigencies of government business, the session is likely to conclude on August 12.
• Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman, Jayant Chaudhary, Pankaj Chaudhary, Kirtivardhan Singh and Sukanta Majumdar will present the document on the table in Lok Sabha today.
• Union Minister Manohar Lal will move the motion for election to the Rajghat Samadhi Committee (RSC).