Nirmala Sitharaman set to script history today with 8th straight Budget

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to make history today (February 1) as she presents her eighth consecutive Union Budget, the highest number of back-to-back budget presentations by any finance minister in India’s history. The Budget for the financial year 2025–26 is also the first under the Modi 3.0 government, adding another milestone to her tenure.

Sitharaman took charge as India’s first full-time woman Finance Minister in 2019 after Prime Minister Narendra Modi secured a second term. Since then, she has presented seven consecutive Budgets, including the interim Budget in February 2024.

With the presentation of today’s Budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman edges closer to the historic record of 10 Budgets, a milestone set by former Prime Minister Morarji Desai between 1959 and 1969. Desai delivered six Budgets as Finance Minister from 1959 to 1964 and four more between 1967 and 1969. Other notable finance ministers with multiple Budget presentations include P Chidambaram, who presented nine Budgets, and Pranab Mukherjee, who delivered eight. Meanwhile, during his tenure as Finance Minister under the PV Narasimha Rao government, Manmohan Singh presented five Budgets between 1991 and 1995.

Longest Budget speech

Apart from setting records for consecutive budget presentations, Sitharaman is also known for delivering the longest Budget speech in history. Her 2020 Budget speech lasted two hours and 40 minutes before she had to stop with two pages still remaining. In contrast, the shortest Budget speech was given in 1977 by Hirubhai Mulljibhai Patel, who spoke just 800 words while presenting the interim Budget.

Over the years, the Union Budget’s presentation has undergone several changes. Until 1999, it was traditionally delivered at 5 pm — a practice carried over from the British era to align with announcements made in London. This changed when then Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha, under the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, shifted the timing to 11 am.

Another significant reform came in 2017 when the Budget presentation date was moved from the last day of February to February 1. This change was implemented to allow enough time for parliamentary approval before the start of the new financial year on April 1.