Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present a record 9th consecutive Budget on February 1. This Union Budget 2026 is expected to include reform measures aimed at boosting economic growth amid a volatile geopolitical situation.
By doing this, Ms. Sitharaman will be closer to the record of 10 Budgets presented by former PM Morarji Desai at various times. Desai presented a total of 6 Budgets while he served as Finance Minister from 1959 to 1964, and 4 Budgets between 1967 and 1969.
What new in Union Budget 2026?
Former Finance Ministers P Chidambaram and Pranab Mukherjee presented nine and eight Budgets, respectively, under different Prime Ministers. However, Ms.Sitharaman will continue to hold the record for the most consecutive Budgets: nine straight Budgets under Prime Minister NarendraModi.
In 2019, she became India’s first full-time woman Finance Minister when Prime Minister Modi won a decisive second term. After Mr.Modi returned to power in 2024 for a third time, Ms.Sitharaman kept her finance portfolio. So far, she has presented eight straight Budgets, including an interim one in February 2024.
Most number of Budgets
Former Prime Minister Morarji Desai holds the record for presenting the most Budgets. He presented a total of 10 Budgets during his time as Finance Minister under Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and later under Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri. He presented his first Budget on February 28, 1959, followed by full Budgets in the next two years.
In 1962, he presented an interim Budget, which was followed by two full Budgets. After four years, he presented another interim Budget in 1967, followed by three full Budgets in 1967, 1968, and 1969, bringing his total to 10 Budgets.
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