The 'Gender Budget' allocation has seen a sharp increase, reaching Rs 4.49 lakh crore, in this year's Union Budget, a 37.5 per cent rise from last year's allocation, the Women and Child Development Ministry said on Sunday. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her budget speech on Saturday, announced that the 'Gender Budget' made up 8.86 per cent of the total budget. Last year's allocation was Rs 3.27 lakh crore, which was 6.8 per cent of last year's total budget. This year's budget also witnessed a record number of ministries and departments reporting allocations under the Gender Budget Statement (GBS). Forty-nine ministries and departments, along with five Union territories, have included gender-focused allocations, up from 38 ministries and departments in the previous year.