The countdown to the Union Budget has begun, with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman expected to present Budget 2026 on 1 February, as she has done in the previous years.
This time, however, the date falls on a weekend, leading to some confusion over whether the Budget presentation will be rescheduled. Traditionally, the government has stuck to 1 February even when it falls on a weekend.
In response to the situation, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju has clarified that the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs will decide the final date at an appropriate time.
Presenting the Union Budget on a weekend is not unusual, though. In fact, the 2025 budget was presented on a Saturday. Former Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also delivered budgets on weekends — 28 February 2015 (Saturday) and 28 February 2016 (Sunday).
Here are some more interesting facts about India’s Union Budget.
From briefcase to Bahi Khata, and now a tablet
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman spearheaded the transformation of the Union Budget from a briefcase to a tablet.
In 2019, she gave a desi avatar to her first budget by replacing the old ‘budget briefcase’ with a red-coloured ‘bahi khata’.
Later, the Covid pandemic served as an opportunity to go entirely paperless during budget presentation. The Union Budget of 2021-22 was presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on a digital tablet.
Railway budget, once separate, is now merged
Until 2016, the Railway budget in India was presented separately, usually a few days before the Union Budget.
However, this 92-year-old separation ended when the government decided to merge the Railway Budget with the Union Budget starting from the 2017-18 fiscal year.
The year when Union Budget was leaked
Although high security was maintained during the printing of the Union Budget, it was leaked in 1950, before the then Finance Minister John Mathai was set to present the Union Budget in Parliament.
Following the leak, the printing of the Budget was shifted from Rashtrapati Bhawan to Minto Road. After 1980, the budget printing process shifted to the North Block basement.
Longest budget speech
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman holds the title of presenting the longest budget speech in terms of duration in India’s history.
In 2020, her budget speech went on for two hours and 42 minutes. The speech began at 11 AM and continued till 1:40 PM.
Nirmala Sitharaman was unable to complete the entire budget speech script as she felt unwell. Later, the speech was completed by Om Birla.
However, her speech still fell short of the one given by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 1991 in terms of word count. Former PM Manmohan Singh’s speech as Finance Minister had 18,650 words.
Change in Budget timings
Historically, India’s Union Budget used to be presented in the evening, at around 5 PM on the last working day of February, a practice inherited from the British colonial era. Now they’re presented in the morning to align with market hours.
In 1999, the timing of the presentation was shifted to 11 AM. Since then, the Budget has consistently been delivered in the morning, a practice that helps align the announcement with market hours, parliamentary business, and same-day analysis by stakeholders.
Budget’s shift in emphasis
Over the years, the language and priorities of the Union Budget seem to have shifted. Earlier budgets were often dominated by themes such as disinvestment and fiscal consolidation.
In recent years, however, the focus has shifted towards digital initiatives, sustainable growth and green development, with repeated emphasis on digital public infrastructure, technology-driven service delivery, and climate-conscious growth.
The special halwa ceremony
A week prior to the presentation of the Union Budget, the Finance Ministry hosts a special ‘halwa ceremony’, which marks the beginning of the process of printing the Union Budget.
The ceremony takes place in the basement of the Finance Ministry in Central Delhi.
