1948 - The excise duty on betel-nuts was withdrawn and import duty on cigarettes was raised.
1958 - Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's first budget; T. T. Krishnamachari was forced to resign from the post of Finance Minister, and steel plants made the headlines.
1963 - After the Indo-China war, allocation to defence was increased to Rs. 867 crore
1970 - Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's first budget: the only time till date a woman has presented the Budget in India; stiffer taxes were proposed on luxury items and the income tax exemption limit was made Rs. 5000.
1976 - The Emergency's only Budget, presented by C. Subramaniam. The Hindu called it A Budget to Promote the Economy.
1985 - Rajiv Gandhi's first Budget presented by Finance Minister V.P. Singh was an attempt to accelerate industrial growth. The Hindu published an editorial on March 17, 1985, titled It's Up to the Private Sector Now.
1991 and 1992 - Finance Minister Manmohan Singh took forward his economic reforms programme and bold proposals on various fronts were brought in.
1998 and 2003 - the NDA year - from having a Swadeshi tinge to a giveaway mode before elections.
2005 - UPA's first budget presented by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram gave a substantial relief to income-tax payers and promoted a vision for rural India.
2012 - Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's Budget and his proposal on retrospective tax shook investors. Income tax was lowered, whereas service tax was increased. The Hindu published an editorial on March 17, 2012, titled On A Wing and a Prayer.