Kamal Ghorui
India’s Union Budgets over the past eight decades have reflected the country’s evolving aspirations and economic journey. The upcoming Union Budget for 2026–27, to be presented on February 1, marks several firsts and milestones in that long tradition.With just a day to go, the country is gearing up for the financial statement that will be presented on a Sunday marking a historic first. The 2026 Budget will also be finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman‘s ninth consecutive Union Budget, making her the first finance minister in India to achieve this feat. She will also become the first finance minister to present a Union Budget on a Sunday, underlining the historic nature of the occasion.
Why February 1 matters?
Since 2017, the Union Budget has been presented on February 1, a reform introduced by the BJP-led NDA government. Until then, the Budget was traditionally presented on the last working day of February, a colonial-era practice.The shift was aimed at giving ministries and state governments more time to plan and implement expenditure before the new financial year begins on April 1.Because February 1, 2026, falls on a Sunday, the Budget will be presented on a weekend—highlighting how procedural reforms now take precedence over older conventions.
Has India seen weekend Budgets before?
While rare, weekend Budgets are not entirely new.
- In 1999, when February 28 fell on a Sunday, former finance minister Yashwant Sinha presented the Budget a day earlier, on Saturday, February 27.
- Sitharaman has already presented Budgets on Saturdays—on February 1, 2020, just before the Covid-19 lockdown, and again on February 1, 2025.
- However, Budget 2026 will be the first time in recent history that the Union Budget is actually presented on a Sunday.
- Until 1999, the Union Budget was presented at 5 pm, a colonial-era practice aligned with British working hours. That year, Yashwant Sinha moved the timing to 11 am, a convention that continues today.
- In 2017, then finance minister Arun Jaitley further reformed the process by advancing the Budget date to February 1 from the end of the month.
- Since 2019, Budget documents have been carried to Parliament in a traditional “bahi khata”, replacing the colonial briefcase. The red cloth folder, embossed with the national emblem, reflects India’s own accounting traditions.
- From 2021, the bahi khata has been used to carry a digital tablet, marking the shift towards a paperless Budget.
- India’s first Union Budget after Independence was presented on November 26, 1947, by the country’s first finance minister R K Shanmukham Chetty.
What exactly is the Union Budget?
Although commonly called the “Budget”, the term does not appear in the Constitution. Under Article 112, it is referred to as the Annual Financial Statement, detailing the government’s estimated receipts and expenditure for the financial year.India’s financial year runs from April 1 to March 31, and the Budget is prepared by the Ministry of Finance.The Budget Session of Parliament began on January 28 and will continue until April 2.
