Nirmala Sitharaman creates history with 8th consecutive budget

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman created history on Saturday by presenting her eighth consecutive budget, setting a new record. This budget comes at a time when the economy is experiencing a slowdown, and there is growing demand for tax relief for the middle class.

With this milestone, Sitharaman moves closer to the record set by former Prime Minister Morarji Desai, who presented a total of 10 budgets over different periods. Desai delivered six budgets during his tenure as finance minister from 1959 to 1964 and four more between 1967 and 1969.

Former finance ministers P. Chidambaram and Pranab Mukherjee have also presented nine and eight budgets, respectively, under different prime ministers.

However, Sitharaman holds the record for presenting the highest number of consecutive budgets—eight in a row—under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In 2019, she became India’s first full-time woman finance minister after Modi secured a second term in office. Following Modi’s victory in the 2024 general elections for a third term, Sitharaman retained her position as finance minister.

Notable Facts About Budget Presentations in Independent India

First Budget:

Independent India’s first Union Budget was presented on November 26, 1947, by the country’s first finance minister, R. K. Shanmukham Chetty.

Maximum Number of Budgets:

Morarji Desai holds the record for presenting the highest number of budgets—10 in total. As finance minister, he presented budgets under Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Lal Bahadur Shastri. His first budget was delivered on February 28, 1959, followed by full budgets in the next two years and an interim budget in 1962. He later presented two more full budgets. After a gap of four years, he returned to present an interim budget in 1967, followed by three consecutive full budgets from 1967 to 1969.

Second-Highest Number of Budgets:

P Chidambaram has presented nine budgets. His first was on March 19, 1996, during the United Front government led by H. D. Deve Gowda. He presented another the following year under the same government. Later, he returned as finance minister in the Congress-led UPA government, presenting five budgets between 2004 and 2008. After serving as Union Home Minister, he returned to finance and presented the 2013 and 2014 budgets.

Third-Highest Number of Budgets:

Pranab Mukherjee delivered eight budgets as finance minister. He presented budgets in 1982, 1983, and 1984, followed by five consecutive budgets between February 2009 and March 2012 under the UPA government.

Manmohan Singh’s Budgets:

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, as finance minister in the P. V. Narasimha Rao government, presented five consecutive budgets from 1991 to 1995.

Longest Budget Speech:

Nirmala Sitharaman holds the record for delivering the longest budget speech, which lasted two hours and 40 minutes on February 1, 2020. She had to cut short her speech with two pages still remaining.

Shortest Budget Speech:

The shortest budget speech, consisting of just 800 words, was delivered by Hirubhai Mulljibhai Patel in his interim budget of 1977.

Timing of Budget Presentation:

Traditionally, the budget was presented on the last day of February at 5 PM, a practice inherited from colonial rule. This timing allowed simultaneous announcements in London and India, as India is 4 hours and 30 minutes ahead of British Summer Time.

In 1999, Yashwant Sinha, then finance minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, shifted the budget presentation time to 11 AM. Since then, all budgets have been presented at this time.

Change in Budget Presentation Date:

In 2017, the budget presentation date was moved to February 1 to allow the government to complete the Parliamentary approval process by March-end. This change ensured that the budget could be implemented from the beginning of the new fiscal year on April 1.

Previously, when the budget was presented on February 28, the implementation could only begin in May or June, after a 2-3 month-long parliamentary approval process. (With inputs from PTI)