Nirmala Sitharaman has set a new benchmark with nine consecutive Union Budgets, but India’s all-time record for most Budget presentations belongs to another finance minister.
Political discussions and debates in Parliament renewed focus on how Vande Mataram is performed alongside the national anthem.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presents the Union Budget on Sunday for the ninth consecutive time. No other finance minister has delivered so many budgets in an unbroken stretch.
The record for the most Union Budgets presented still belongs to Morarji Desai, who delivered 10 budgets across two separate tenures (between 1958 and 1963, and later from 1967 to 1969). Sitharaman now stands just one short of that mark.
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The achievement underlines a rare period of continuity in India’s economic leadership. Sitharaman has held the finance portfolio since 2019, serving under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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With her ninth straight Budget, Sitharaman overtakes both P Chidambaram and Pranab Mukherjee in terms of consecutive presentations.
Chidambaram also presented nine budgets, but across three decades and in non-consecutive terms. Sitharaman is the first to reach the number without a break.
If she presents the Budget again in 2027, she will equal Morarji Desai’s all-time record of 10 budgets.
This is also the first time the Union Budget is being presented on a Sunday. In earlier years, Budget dates were shifted if February 1 fell on a weekend.
Despite the holiday, both the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange are holding a special full trading session to allow markets to respond immediately.
The Budget is being presented against a backdrop of global economic uncertainty and trade tensions. Domestically, attention is on the transition to the New Income Tax Act, 2025, which will replace the 1961 law from April 1, 2026.
According to the Economic Survey 2025–26, tabled on January 29, India’s economy is expected to grow between 6.8 and 7.2 per cent next year. Middle-class taxpayers are watching closely for relief measures under the new tax regime.
Major spending is expected on infrastructure, rail safety systems such as Kavach 4.0, defence, and artificial intelligence. Concerns over global trade, including US tariff signals and their impact on Indian exports, also frame this year’s Budget, ANI reported.
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