BUDGET does not mean that it has to be prepared only by the Government. Any person—whether a company, partnership firm, individual, or anyone who maintains financial data—can prepare a budget. Every person can plan what their income will be during the coming year, what their expenses will be, and then determine whether there will be profit or loss, surplus or deficit.
Most people prepare their personal or business budget after the Government Budget is presented, because the Government Budget helps them understand taxes and other changes announced by the Government.
In India, budgets are announced at different levels—such as by Municipal Corporations or Gram Panchayats, State Governments, and the Central Government. (The Railway Budget earlier used to be presented separately, but it has been merged with the Union Budget since 2017.)
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Timing of Union Budget
After Independence and up to 1999, the Union Budget was generally presented on the last working day of February at 5:00 PM. This tradition was changed in 1999, when Shri Yashwant Sinha, the then Finance Minister, presented the Budget at 11:00 AM in Parliament.
Later, the Budget presentation date was advanced from the last day of February to 1st February, starting from 2017, when Shri Arun Jaitley was Finance Minister. This practice continues till date.
Finance Ministers who presented the maximum budgets
The Finance Minister who presented the maximum number of Union Budgets is Shri Morarji Desai, who presented 10 budgets.
The details of other Finance Ministers who presented more than 5 budgets are as under:
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Shri Morarji Desai – 10 Budgets
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Shri P. Chidambaram – 9 Budgets
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Shri Pranab Mukherjee – 8 Budgets
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Shri Yashwant Sinha – 8 Budgets
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Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman – 7 Budgets (till 2025-26; 2026-27 depends on future presentation)
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Dr. Manmohan Singh – 6 Budgets
Women Finance Ministers
In India, two women have served as Finance Minister and presented Union Budgets:
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Smt. Indira Gandhi – 1970–71
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Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman – 2019–20 onwards
Language of the Budget
The Union Budget was presented in Parliament in English only till 1955. Thereafter, the Government decided to present the Budget in both English and Hindi.
Paperless Budget
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the Union Budget for 2021–22 was presented in a paperless form. This was the first time in India’s history that the Budget documents were presented digitally instead of being printed.
Words in Budget Speech
When the Budget is telecast, we observe how difficult it is to read and present such a long document in Parliament. We also notice that in some years, the Finance Minister’s speech is short, long, or very long. We find that while presenting the Budget, the Finance Minister often drinks water to get some relief.
Till date, the shortest Budget speech was delivered by Finance Minister Hirubhai Mulljibhai Patel (H.M. Patel) in 1977, consisting of only about 800 words.
In comparison, the longest Budget speech was delivered by Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman for the Budget 2020–21, presented on 1st February 2020. It lasted 2 hours and 42 minutes; however, two pages were left unread, and she requested the Speaker to consider the remaining part as read. This is considered the record for the longest Budget speech in terms of time.
Before this, a very long Budget speech was delivered by Dr. Manmohan Singh in 1991, containing 18,650 words.
First Budget of Independent India
The first Budget of Independent India was presented by Finance Minister R.K. Shanmukham Chetty on 26th November 1947.
Morarji Desai’s Record
As we have seen, Morarji Desai holds the record for presenting the maximum number of Budgets, including two Interim Budgets. He presented Budgets during 1959 to 1964 and 1967 to 1969, including Interim Budgets.
He was also the only Finance Minister who presented the Budget on 29th February, which was his birth date, in 1964 and 1968. Hence, he is the only Finance Minister who presented the Budget on his own birthday.
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