Union Budget 2026—Key Facts You Should Know

When will the budget be presented?

Budget 2026-27 will be tabled in Parliament on February 1, by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. It sets out the government’s financial priorities and policies for the year.

Who presented the First Budget?

India’s first-ever budget was presented on April 7, 1860, by Scottish economist James Wilson during British rule. After independence, the country’s first Union Budget was tabled on February 28, 1948, by India’s first finance minister, R. K. Shanmukham Chetty.

Longest Budget Speeches in History

The record for the longest Union Budget speech, measured by word count, belongs to Dr. Manmohan Singh. His historic 1991 budget speech ran to 18,604 words. Close behind was Arun Jaitley’s 2018 budget speech, which matched the same word count and stands second on the list.

Record-Breaking Finance Minister

In 2024, Nirmala Sitharaman became the first finance minister to present seven consecutive Union Budgets, surpassing Morarji Desai’s record. With the 2026 budget, she has extended this streak, though Desai still holds the overall record with eleven budgets between 1962 and 1969.

Shortest Budget Speech

Hirubhai Mulljibhai Patel delivered the shortest Union Budget speech in 1977, using just 800 words.

Budget Timing: A Shift from Evening to Morning

Until 1999, the budget was presented on the last working day of February at 5 pm, following a long-standing tradition. This changed during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, when then FM Yashwant Sinha moved the budget presentation to 11 am, marking a significant break from colonial-era practice.

Longest Budget Speech by Duration

FM Nirmala Sitharaman holds the record for the longest budget speech in terms of time. During the 2020–21 budget presentation, she spoke continuously for two hours and 42 minutes, setting a new benchmark in parliamentary history.

Budget Language Shift

Until 1955, the Union Budget was presented only in English. That year, the Congress government introduced bilingual budget documents in Hindi and English, making the process more accessible to a wider public.