Key Points
- Union Budget 2026-27 to be presented on Sunday, February 1, at 11 am.
- This is the first time since Independence that the Union Budget will be presented on a Sunday.
- Budget Session Phase 1: January 28 to February 13, Phase 2: March 9 to April 2.
- Economic Survey to be tabled on January 29, a day after the President’s joint address.
- Nirmala Sitharaman to present her 9th consecutive budget, the 88th since Independence.
- She inches closer to Morarji Desai’s record of 10 budgets, and equals P. Chidambaram’s tally of nine.
- Sitharaman remains India’s first full-time woman Finance Minister, continuing in the role in Modi’s third term.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget for 2026-27 on February 1, which this year falls on a Sunday, making it the first Union Budget in India’s history to be presented on a Sunday. The Budget will be presented at 11 am, continuing the practice started in 2017 of morning presentations instead of the earlier evening schedule.
The Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs, chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, has approved the schedule for the Budget Session of Parliament. The session will formally begin on January 28 with the President’s address to a joint sitting of both Houses, followed by the tabling of the Economic Survey on January 29.
Budget Session Phases And Parliamentary Calendar
The Budget Session will be conducted in two phases to allow time for detailed scrutiny of budget proposals by parliamentary standing committees. The first phase will run from January 28 to February 13, during which the Budget will be presented and initial discussions on the general budget and various demands for grants will take place.
After a recess for departmental committees to examine the Demands for Grants, the second phase of the session will resume from March 9 to April 2. During this period, Parliament is expected to hold voting on Demands for Grants, consider the Appropriation Bill and Finance Bill, and clear key legislative business linked to the budgetary roadmap.
Sitharaman’s Record-Breaking 9th Budget
Nirmala Sitharaman will be presenting the Union Budget for the ninth consecutive time, making it the 88th budget since Independence and placing her among India’s longest-serving Finance Ministers. With this, she becomes the first Finance Minister in India to deliver nine budgets in a row, further strengthening her position in the country’s economic policymaking history.
Her tally brings her very close to former Prime Minister Morarji Desai’s record, who presented a total of 10 budgets in two separate stints between 1959–1964 and 1967–1969. Among recent Finance Ministers, P. Chidambaram has also presented nine budgets, while Pranab Mukherjee presented eight during his tenure under different prime ministers.
Weekend Budgets And Shift In Tradition
While this is the first time the Union Budget will be presented on a Sunday, presenting budgets on weekends is not entirely new. Nirmala Sitharaman had earlier presented the 2025 Budget on a Saturday, and former Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s 2015 and 2016 budgets were also presented on February 28, both of which fell on a Saturday.
The broader shift in budget timing came in 2017, when the government moved the Budget presentation date from February 28 to February 1 and advanced the timing to 11 am. This change was introduced to enable earlier completion of the budget process so that expenditure and schemes could be implemented from the very start of the financial year on April 1.
Preparations For Budget 2026 And Economic Survey
Preparations for Budget 2026 are already underway across the Finance Ministry, sectoral departments, and key economic agencies. As per the approved schedule, the President’s address on January 28 will outline the government’s policy priorities, governance agenda, and economic vision for the coming year.
The Economic Survey, to be tabled on January 29, will provide a comprehensive review of the performance of the Indian economy over the past year. It will assess growth trends, inflation, employment, external sector performance, and fiscal indicators, and lay out the opportunities and risks that could shape the budget’s policy choices and reform measures.
