Nirmala Sitharaman To Present Record Ninth Straight Budget on February 1
Nirmala Sitharaman set to present her ninth consecutive Union Budget on February 1, 2026.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to present her ninth consecutive Union Budget on February 1, 2026, marking a historic milestone in Indian politics. The upcoming budget is expected to focus on economic growth, fiscal reforms, and navigating challenges posed by a volatile global geopolitical environment.
Sitharaman, India’s first full-time woman finance minister, has held the finance portfolio continuously since 2019 under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Her tenure has already seen eight consecutive budgets, including an interim budget in February 2024, and she now approaches the record of 10 budgets held by former Prime Minister Morarji Desai.
Desai presented 10 budgets in total, split between 1959-1964 and 1967-1969, while other finance ministers like P Chidambaram and Pranab Mukherjee presented nine and eight budgets respectively, under different prime ministers. Sitharaman, however, holds the record for most consecutive budgets by a finance minister in India’s history.
Also Read: Union Budget 2025 to Be Presented on Sunday, February 1: Full Session Schedule Revealed
Notably, Sitharaman also holds the record for the longest budget speech, delivering a 2-hour 40-minute address in February 2020, while Hirubhai Mulljibhai Patel’s interim budget speech in 1977 remains the shortest at just 800 words. Her upcoming budget will likely follow current practices of an 11 am presentation, a timing adopted in 1999 to replace the colonial-era 5 pm schedule.
The shift of the budget presentation to February 1 was implemented in 2017 to allow sufficient time for parliamentary approval, ensuring that allocations and policy measures can be operational from the start of the fiscal year on April 1. This strategic timing enhances the government’s ability to implement reforms efficiently.
Sitharaman’s historic ninth budget is being closely watched by economists, investors, and policymakers, as it is expected to balance growth with fiscal prudence, while potentially introducing key measures to strengthen India’s economic resilience and social sector spending amid global uncertainties.
Also Read: Cigarette Shortages Grip Cities as New Excise Hike Looms February 1
