Budget 2026: Sitharaman delivers ninth record Budget, speech runs 1 hour 25 minutes: Check longest and shortest budget speech 

Budget 2026 speech Budget 2026 speech

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented her ninth consecutive Union Budget on Sunday, February 1, 2026, marking the second Budget of the Modi government’s third term. Her Budget speech lasted around 1 hour and 25 minutes.

Sitharaman also holds the record for delivering the longest Budget speech in India’s parliamentary history. On February 1, 2020, her address lasted 2 hours and 42 minutes, during which she announced key reforms, including a new income tax regime and the proposed initial public offering of the Life Insurance Corporation.

Midway through that speech, she felt unwell, and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla read out the final two pages on her behalf. The 2020 speech surpassed her previous record of 2 hours and 17 minutes in 2019. By contrast, her 2024 interim Budget speech, at 56 minutes, was the shortest of her tenure.

Who holds the record for the shortest speech ever?

For context, former Finance Minister Hirubhai Muljibhai Patel holds the record for India’s shortest budget speech, delivering the 1977 interim budget in just 800 words.

In terms of longevity, former Prime Minister Morarji Desai presented the most budgets in independent India, with a total of ten between 1959 and 1969. P Chidambaram presented nine budgets, and Pranab Mukherjee delivered eight. With Sunday’s presentation, Nirmala Sitharaman matches Chidambaram’s tally, delivering her ninth budget.