New Delhi, Jan 27: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will deliver her record ninth consecutive Union Budget on February 1, featuring reform measures to boost economic growth amid global geopolitical volatility.
This milestone brings her closer to Morarji Desai’s record of 10 budgets across different tenures (6 during 1959-64, 4 during 1967-69). P Chidambaram presented nine, Pranab Mukherjee eight, while Sitharaman holds the unique record of nine straight budgets under PM Narendra Modi since her 2019 appointment as India’s first full-time woman Finance Minister.
India’s first Budget came on November 26, 1947, by R K Shanmukham Chetty. Desai tops total budgets at 10, followed by Chidambaram (9) and Mukherjee (8). Manmohan Singh delivered five straight (1991-95).
Sitharaman’s February 1, 2020 speech set the longest duration record at 2 hours 40 minutes. Hirubhai Patel’s 1977 interim speech was shortest at 800 words.
Budget timing shifted from traditional 5 PM last-Friday-of-February (colonial-era London sync) to 11 AM since Yashwant Sinha’s 1999 presentation. Date moved to February 1 in 2017 for timely April 1 implementation, avoiding May-June delays.
