People flock to Twitter to get the latest on what’s happening in India and around the world, and the Union Budget 2017 was no different. We saw 720,000 Budget-related Tweets between January 30 - February 2, 2017. Here’s a snapshot of what people were saying about #Budget2017:
#BudgetForBetterIndia reforms old processes, empowers our human capital & aims to rejuvenate the economy.
— Narendra Modi ( @narendramodi) February 1, 2017
Glad the government is upping investments in solar power.
— Sorabh Pant ( @hankypanty) February 1, 2017
The sun is still the world’s cheapest power plant.#Budget2017
Much needed. 500 railway stations will be made differently-abled friendly by providing lifts and escalators: #Budget2017 #ModiNomics17
— Rahul Kanwal ( @rahulkanwal) February 1, 2017
Reaction of honest tax payers after watching every #Budget in India. #Budget2017 pic.twitter.com/Dk8WOTn0xV
— The-Lying-Lama ( @KyaUkhaadLega) February 1, 2017
Big industry not happy: Wanted a corporate tax cut. But where is incentive for honest, tax compliant citizens like you and me? #Budget2017
— Rajdeep Sardesai ( @sardesairajdeep) February 1, 2017
No big surprises in #Budget2017 .Some good corrective steps though but people who stood in lines during demonetisation were expecting more.
— Sudhir Chaudhary ( @sudhirchaudhary) February 1, 2017
#Budget2017 Summing up. No shocks, no big moves, directionally right, not too populist, fiscally sensible, focused spending in growth areas
— R Jagannathan ( @TheJaggi) February 1, 2017
Together with the Finance Ministry (@FinMinIndia), Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (@MIB_India), CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18News), SBI (@TheOfficialSBI), as well as Bloomberg-Quint (@BloombergQuint), Twitter provided live updates from #Budget2017, showcasing the presentation of the Union Budget and initiated conversation amongst policy makers, influencers, journalists, opinion-makers, and the public in general.
#Budget2017: FM presents the budget https://t.co/Iprm4P00mQ
— CNBC-TV18 News ( @CNBCTV18News) February 1, 2017
LIVE on #Periscope | Tax expectations from #Budget2017
— BloombergQuint ( @BloombergQuint) February 1, 2017
Join the discussion with @menakadoshi https://t.co/dC9nsko1pz
This year, Finance Minister @ArunJaitley did two Q&As on Twitter, taking questions with the hashtags #MyQuestionToFM and #AskYourFM after the Budget itself, expanding the #Budget2017 discussion with the public and gathering feedback in real-time. @FinMinIndia also posted exclusive behind the scenes peek into the highly secretive process of the making of the #Budget2017 with an autographed picture of the Finance Minister @ArunJaitley via Twitter’s Challenger app as well as a video Teaser to the Q&A session.
Ask your questions to FM using #MyQuestionToFM pic.twitter.com/SP63OwyOT8
— Ministry of Finance ( @FinMinIndia) January 31, 2017
Post your Qs on #Budget2017 using #AskYourFM & get live Ans from FM Sh @arunjaitley on #Talkathon at 6.30pm today: https://t.co/BcUOkOoHDB pic.twitter.com/ihUaEE2YrR
— MIB India ( @MIB_India) February 1, 2017
.@praneethcars #MyQuestiontoFM pic.twitter.com/ZlTjB6q73H
— Ministry of Finance ( @FinMinIndia) February 1, 2017
.@PRABHAKARMUNISH #MyQuestiontoFM pic.twitter.com/3tPWixYbXb
— Ministry of Finance ( @FinMinIndia) February 1, 2017
Live Talkathon
— MIB India ( @MIB_India) February 1, 2017
Tweet your Qns to @arunjaitley using #AskYourFM on #Budget2017 and get Ans live here https://t.co/Sq4XeaK0E9
In a first of its kind Twitter collaboration, CNBC-TV18 and SBI joined forces for the first-ever Amplify partnership in the news category for India, providing video highlights of #Budget2017 on the platform. The highly informative content approach featured #Budget2017 videos from CNBC-TV18 and pre-roll ads from SBI.
We are happy to announce our partnership with @TwitterIndia and @TheOfficialSBI for #Budget2017. Details here: https://t.co/eoF91vBjcK
— CNBC-TV18 News ( @CNBCTV18News) January 31, 2017
FM @arunjaitley: Participation of women in MNREGA has increased to 55% from 48% in the past. #Budget2017 pic.twitter.com/c7nts7HEHY
— CNBC-TV18 News ( @CNBCTV18News) February 1, 2017
FM @arunjaitley: NABARD to set up dedicated micro irrigation fund worth Rs 5,000 cr. #Budget2017 pic.twitter.com/X496UusN2I
— CNBC-TV18 News ( @CNBCTV18News) February 1, 2017
Apart from CNBC-TV18 and SBI, news partners including @BloombergQuint, @EconomicTimes, @TimesNow, @IndiaToday, @NDTV, @HtTweets, @IndianExpress, @The_Hindu, and @JagranNews — used Periscope, Twitter Polls, GIFs, Videos to build on established best practices like rich media live-Tweeting of the #Budget2017.
.@AbheekHDFCBank, Chief Economist of @HDFC_Bank, offers a no-holds-barred analysis of Arun Jaitley’s #Budget2017. Watch out. pic.twitter.com/eaR3qnOsaY
— EconomicTimes ( @EconomicTimes) February 1, 2017
Financial mood of the nation. #ITGIF pic.twitter.com/meEsy25Qet
— India Today ( @IndiaToday) February 1, 2017
WATCH | #Budget2017 will help small businesses to become competitive in the global market, says PM @narendramodi #BudgetWithNDTV pic.twitter.com/11uoWEzusx
— NDTV ( @ndtv) February 1, 2017
More than anything else, the #Budget2017 proved that when it comes to the intersection of news and government, Twitter continues to be India’s live connection to culture.