North Block to print Budget 2026 copies even as finance ministry moves to new office

Ahead of the Budget presentation, a customary halwa ceremony is performed every year.

• Union Budget 2026-27 will be printed at North Block, not Kartavya Bhavan
• New machines at Kartavya Bhavan aren't ready for Budget printing this year
• Budget personnel will be locked in North Block for secrecy until presentation

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The Ministry of Finance shifted from North Block to Kartavya Bhavav last year. However, the printing press at North Block will publish the final copies of the Union Budget 2026-27 which will be presented in Parliament on February 1, according to Indian Express.

The ministry had to fall back on the old printing press facility at North Block amid “significant constraints” for installing it in the new building. “Senior officials have visited North Block several times to manage the locational hurdle. The transition to Kartavya Bhavan is not without challenges. The Budget press at the now vacated premises of North Block will be used to print the upcoming Budget,” an official told IE.

According to the ministry insiders, new machines have been procured and installed in Kartavya Bhavan. “Checking the machines and trial printing is underway. But given that the Budget printing process involves multiple ministries, departments and personnel, and is a time bound activity, the decision to print the Budget in the North Block is by way of abundant caution”, they told IE.

Ahead of the Budget presentation, a customary halwa ceremony is performed every year. After this ceremony, officials involved in the Budget preparation are locked in. Nearly 60 people will be locked in, according to IE. They are the personnel directly associated with the Budget making and printing process. To maintain secrecy, they are cut off from their families with no access to phones or any other device until the presentation of the Budget by the finance minister in Parliament.

These personnel are allowed to watch television inside. After the Covid-19 phase, the lock-in period has been reduced to just under a week from 10-12 days earlier since the number of hard copies of the Budget has been reduced. Much of the distribution is now online and digital.

According to the IE report, the Budget press was set to get a makeover with modern and lighter machinery to fit within the space and structural constraints of the new complex at Kartavya Bhavan. The Ministry had floated a tender for the new machinery on September 2, 2025. A Finance Ministry official told IE that due to relocation of the press, there was a need to upgrade the printing infrastructure to “meet the time-bound and confidential requirements” of printing Budget documents.

However, the new setup has not become functional in time for the Budget to be printed there, stated the IE report.