Budget 2026: Date and time of historic Sunday presentation by Nirmala Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget for 2026–27 on February 1 at 11 am, marking her ninth budget in Parliament. As the budget day falls on a Sunday, stock exchanges BSE and NSE have decided to keep the equity markets open for trading on that day.

The pre-open market would open from 9 am till 9:08 am while normal trading will run from 9:15 am till 3:30 pm.

The Budget session of Parliament will begin on January 28, 2026, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said earlier. He said the President of India has approved the summoning of both Houses of Parliament for the session.


ALSO READ: Budget 2026 may hold the next switch for India to power ahead in 'Drill, baby Drill' era

Being the first parliamentary session to be held every year, the Budget session begins with the President's address to a joint sitting of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.

Why is Budget presented on February 1 every year?

Since Budget 2017-18, India has presented the Union Budget on February 1, replacing the long-standing tradition of presenting it on February 28.

ALSO READ: Budget 2026: India’s power shift hinges on fixing a crisis millions complain about

SR Patnaik, Partner (head - taxation), Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, told ET that the reason behind the shift is to enable the Parliament to pass a single Appropriation Bill before 31 March, doing away with the requirement for Vote on Account.

Has the Budget ever been presented on a Sunday earlier?

While a Sunday Budget would be a first since 2000, presenting Budgets on weekends is not unprecedented. Budget 2025, under Sitharaman, was presented on a Saturday, and Budget 2015, under Arun Jaitley, was also presented on Saturday on February 28, 2015.

A significant instance was the 1999-2000 Budget, presented on 27 February 1999 by Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha. This year marked a notable shift from the traditional 5 pm presentation time to 11 am, moving away from British customs.