Budget 2024: FM Nirmala Sitharaman attends customary halwa ceremony, ‘lock-in’ period begins —why is it important?

In the run-up to the presentation of Union Budget 2024 on July 23, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday distributed halwa among the members of the Budget press and the finance ministry officials in what is known as the ‘halwa ceremony’.

The customary halwa ceremony was also attended by Minister of State (MoS) Finance Pankaj Chaudhary, along with the Finance Ministry's secretaries, chairmen of the Income Tax Department and Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs, and officials of the Finance Ministry and North Block Budget Press.

Sitharaman will present the Union Budget 2024-25 on July 23, 2024.

As part of the ceremony, the finance minister on Tuesday took a tour of the Budget Press and reviewed the preparations, besides extending her best wishes to the officials concerned.

What is a halwa ceremony?

It is a customary ceremony which entails the distribution of halwa (a dessert) and is performed every year before the ‘lock-in’ process of officials involved in the Budget preparation begins.

As per tradition, halwa is prepared in a large pan before it’s distributed by the finance minister among the staff of the Budget press and officials of the ministry.

This ceremony marks the beginning of printing Budget documents, and the officials involved in the Budget preparation are ‘locked in’ until the finance minister presents the much-awaited Budget in Parliament.

Get Budget documents on the mobile app

The smart phone users will be able to access the Budget documents on the Union Budget Mobile app. It’s the official Budget app which is available in English and Hindi on both the Android and Apple OS platforms. However, the documents will be accessible only after the end of the Budget speech in Parliament on July 23.

The Budget documents which will be available on the app include the Annual Financial Statement (commonly referred to as Budget), Demand for Grants (DG), and Finance Bill.

From Members of Parliament to the members of the public — anyone will be able to access Budget documents on the mobile app.