Union Finance Minister of India, Nirmala Sitharaman, is set to present her ninth consecutive Union Budget for the financial year 2026-27, as the nation counts down the number of days to one of the biggest domestic financial announcements of the year.
Every year since 2017, the Union Budget of India has been shifted to 1 February of every year, which allows the Union Parliament enough time to approve the annual budget before the beginning of the upcoming financial year.
Union Budget date
According to a recent NDTV Profit report citing officials aware of the development, the Union Budget 2026-27 is scheduled to be tabled in the parliament on Sunday, 1 February 2026. However, this date has not been formally approved by the central government.
People around the country still remain in confusion after the Budget date fell on a weekend, prompting discussions about whether or not it is going to be postponed to Monday, 2 February 2026.
According to an earlier PTI report citing people aware of the development, Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget on Sunday.
“We have a fixed day for the presentation of the general budget. The concept of Sunday was brought by the British,” they told the news agency.
However, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said that the decision on the dates will be taken by the Cabinet Committee. “These decisions are taken by the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs at an appropriate time,” he said, cited in the agency report.
Before 2017, the general budget for the financial year was tabled at the parliament on the last day of February every year.
Union Budget Trivia
Over the years, the Union Budget has transformed from a briefcase to a Bahi Khata and now a tablet. The old ‘budget briefcase’ was replaced with a red-colored ‘bahi khata’ in 2019.
During the global COVID-19 pandemic, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget on a digital tablet, marking a step of modernisation in India.
In 1950, under the Finance Minister John Mathai, despite the high security during the printing of the Union Budget, the documents were leaked. Since then, the Budget printing was shifted from Rashtrapati Bhawan to Minto Road.
Since 1980, the Budget printing has been shifted to the North Block basement.
Nirmala Sitharaman also holds the title of presenting the longest budget speech in terms of duration in Indian history, when she spoke for 2 hours and 42 minutes.
