Union Budget 2026: Ninth straight Budget cements Sitharaman’s place in history

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday will script a chapter in India’s parliamentary history as she presents a record ninth consecutive Union Budget, a rare feat that places her among the longest-serving custodians of the country’s finances.

The Budget for FY2026–27 is expected to outline measures to sustain growth momentum, maintain fiscal discipline and push reforms aimed at insulating the economy from global headwinds, including trade frictions and potential tariff shocks from the United States.

With this, Sitharaman moves closer to the record held by former prime minister Morarji Desai, who presented 10 budgets over different periods. Desai served as finance minister from 1959 to 1964 and again between 1967 and 1969.


While Desai retains the overall record, Sitharaman will continue to hold the distinction of presenting the maximum number of budgets consecutively — nine in a row — all under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Former finance ministers P Chidambaram and Pranab Mukherjee presented nine and eight budgets, respectively, though not consecutively and under different prime ministers.

Sitharaman was appointed India’s first full-time woman finance minister in 2019 after Modi secured a second term in office. She retained the portfolio after Modi returned to power for a third term in 2024.

Having taken charge of the finance ministry on May 31, 2019, Sitharaman has steered the economy through the Covid-19 pandemic, global geopolitical turbulence and supply-chain disruptions, during a period in which India emerged as the fastest-growing major economy.

She completed six years and eight months in office on January 31, 2026. On February 1, she will present her ninth Budget in succession.

Ahead of the Budget session, Prime Minister Modi said Sitharaman’s ninth straight Budget “will be recorded as a matter of pride in India’s parliamentary history”.

Former prime minister Morarji Desai presented the Union Budget on 10 occasions, while Chidambaram presented it nine times, though not in consecutive years.

The longest-serving finance minister at a stretch remains C D Deshmukh, who held office for over six years beginning June 1, 1950. Manmohan Singh, credited with pushing India’s economic liberalisation, served as finance minister for nearly five years between 1990 and 1996, and briefly held the portfolio as prime minister in 2008 and 2012.

India’s first finance minister after Independence was R K Shanmukham Chetty.

Budget milestones in independent India

• First Budget: The first Union Budget of independent India was presented on November 26, 1947, by R K Shanmukham Chetty.


• Most Budgets: Morarji Desai holds the record with 10 Budgets, presented under Jawaharlal Nehru and Lal Bahadur Shastri.


• Second most: P Chidambaram presented the Budget nine times.


• Third most: Pranab Mukherjee presented eight Budgets.


• Longest Budget speech: Sitharaman’s 2020 Budget speech, which lasted two hours and 40 minutes, remains the longest.


• Shortest Budget speech: Hirubhai Mulljibhai Patel’s interim Budget speech in 1977, at just 800 words, is the shortest on record.

Timing and date changes

Traditionally, the Budget was presented at 5 pm on the last working day of February, a colonial-era practice aligned with British parliamentary timing. This changed in 1999, when then finance minister Yashwant Sinha shifted the presentation to 11 am.

In 2017, the Budget date was advanced to February 1 to allow parliamentary approval before the end of March and enable implementation from the start of the financial year on April 1. (With inputs from PTI)