Union Budget 2026: Five interesting facts ahead of Nirmala Sitharaman’s ninth Budget speech

The Budget 2026-27 will be presented on February 1. (Image credit: ANI)

• Nirmala Sitharaman to present her ninth consecutive Union Budget on Sunday
• Halwa ceremony marks the final stage of Budget preparation and document printing
• Sitharaman's 2020 Budget speech lasted a record 2 hours 42 minutes.

Did our AI summary help?

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to present the Union Budget 2026 at 11 am on Sunday in Parliament, marking her ninth consecutive budget, while India’s economy is expected to grow at 7.6 per cent in the current financial year despite persistent geopolitical headwinds.

Here are a few noteworthy facts about Union Budget 2026:

1. India’s first budget after Independence

In 1947, India’s first Budget after Independence was presented by then Finance Minister RK Shanmukham Chetty. The newly independent nation was struggling with economic challenges while setting up the foundations of its financial system.

2. The halwa ceremony

The Halwa ceremony is a well-known Budget tradition that marks the final stage of Budget preparation. Halwa is cooked and served to the finance ministry officials and staff before the lock-in period begins.

The Halwa Ceremony also marks the official start of printing the Budget documents. Once it takes place, the figures and proposals are final, and no changes can be made. The printed documents are then prepared for presentation in Parliament on Budget Day.

This is why the ceremony is seen as the final formal step before the Budget is made public.

3. Lock-in period

The Halwa Ceremony also begins the Budget’s ‘lock-in’ period to prevent leaks. For 9–10 days, officials involved stay isolated in the North Block basement, cut off from the outside world, with only emergency messages allowed.

4. When the budget was leaked

In 1950, a leak during the printing process led to a major change in handling the documents. Following the incident, Budget printing was moved from Rashtrapati Bhavan to Minto Road and later, in 1980, shifted again to the basement of North Block, where it remains.

5. Longest budget speech 

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman holds the record for delivering the longest Budget speech in parliament. In 2020, her Budget address lasted 2 hours and 42 minutes.