Union Budget 2024: The longest and shortest speeches in history

India's first budget as an independent country was presented in November 1947 by Shanmukham Chetty, who was then the finance minister. Over the years, his successors have given budget speeches in their styles -- some really long, others very brief.

Prior to the Union Budget 2024 being presented at the Parliament, here is a look at the longest and shortest budget speeches made in India's history:

Longest (by duration)

- Nirmala Sitharaman (2020) Nirmala Sitharaman's Union Budget speech in 2020 was by far the longest, lasting two hours and 40 minutes. Key announcements in the 2020 budget included new income tax slabs and LIC IPO.

- Nirmala Sitharaman (2019) The year 2019 marked the first Budget presentation by India's first full-time woman finance minister. Chief announcements included a 10-point vision for the decade, benefits for MSMEs and start-ups and opening pre-filing of income-tax returns, among others.

Sitharaman's speech that year lasted two hours and 17 minutes.