Budget session of Parliament from January 28 to April 2

The first part of the budget session will take place from January 28 to February 13, while the second will run from March 9 to April 2. Despite February 1 being a Sunday, the Union budget will be presented on that day as per the tradition.

This year, since February 1 happens to be a Sunday, there was speculation about whether the budget would be presented on that day or postponed to February 2. According to sources, during a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs led by Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday evening, it was confirmed that the budget will indeed be presented on February 1.

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This will mark the first time in recent history that the budget is presented on a Sunday.

Sources indicate that the budget session will begin on January 28, coinciding with the joint parliamentary session, and the economic survey to be presented on January 29.

This year, the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will make history by presenting the Central budget for the ninth consecutive time. Previously, the only record for the most budget presentations was held by former Prime Minister Morarji Desai, who presented the budget a total of 10 times between 1959 and 1964 and again from 1967 to 1969.

P Chidambaram has also presented the budget nine times, while Pranab Mukherjee did so eight times. Since 2017, the budget has been presented at 11 am on February 1, following the tenure of former Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

During his time, the date for the presentation was changed to allow the new budget to take effect from the first day of the new financial year, April 1. Prior to this change, the budget was presented every year on February 28. The process of preparing the budget has already commenced.