Nirmala Sitharaman Set to Present Ninth Straight Union Budget on February 1

Record Budget Streak Under Modi Government​

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to present the Union Budget on February 1, marking her ninth consecutive Budget, a record for the most budgets presented continuously by any finance minister in India. The upcoming Budget is expected to focus on reform measures aimed at supporting economic growth at a time of heightened geopolitical volatility.

With this presentation, Sitharaman will move closer to the all-time record of 10 budgets presented by Morarji Desai, though his budgets were delivered across different periods and governments.

Sitharaman’s Tenure and Budget Milestones​

Sitharaman was appointed as India’s first full-time woman finance minister in 2019 after Narendra Modi secured a second consecutive term. She retained the finance portfolio following Modi’s return to power for a third term in 2024.

So far, she has presented eight consecutive budgets, including an interim Budget in February 2024. The upcoming presentation will extend this uninterrupted streak to nine.

Finance Ministers With the Most Budgets in Independent India​

Morarji Desai​

Morarji Desai holds the record for presenting the highest number of Union Budgets, with a total of 10 budgets. He served as finance minister under Jawaharlal Nehru and Lal Bahadur Shastri. His first Budget was presented on February 28, 1959, followed by a mix of full and interim budgets between 1959 and 1969.

P Chidambaram​

P Chidambaram presented the Budget nine times. His first Budget came in March 1996 during the United Front government led by H D Deve Gowda. He later presented multiple budgets during the Congress-led UPA government, including those between 2004 and 2008, and again in 2013 and 2014.

Pranab Mukherjee​

Pranab Mukherjee presented eight budgets. These included budgets in the early 1980s and five consecutive budgets between February 2009 and March 2012 during the UPA government.

Manmohan Singh​

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh presented five straight budgets between 1991 and 1995 while serving as finance minister in the government led by P V Narasimha Rao.

Notable Records in Union Budget History​

First Union Budget​

The first Union Budget of independent India was presented on November 26, 1947, by R K Shanmukham Chetty.

Longest Budget Speech​

Nirmala Sitharaman also holds the record for the longest Budget speech. Her presentation on February 1, 2020, lasted two hours and 40 minutes, and was cut short with two pages remaining.

Shortest Budget Speech​

The shortest Budget speech was delivered by Hirubhai Mulljibhai Patel in 1977. His interim Budget speech contained just 800 words.

Changes in Budget Timing and Date​

Presentation Time​

Traditionally, the Union Budget was presented at 5 pm on the last working day of February, a practice rooted in the colonial era to align announcements with daytime hours in the United Kingdom. This changed in 1999 when Yashwant Sinha, serving under Atal Bihari Vajpayee, shifted the presentation time to 11 am, which has continued since.

Presentation Date​

In 2017, the Budget presentation date was moved to February 1. This change was aimed at completing parliamentary approvals by March-end and enabling the implementation of Budget proposals from the start of the financial year on April 1. Earlier, late February presentations often delayed implementation until May or June.

As Sitharaman prepares to present her ninth consecutive Budget, the upcoming exercise will add another chapter to India’s evolving fiscal history.