Budget 2026: Today is going to be a very special day for the people of the country, as the central government will present the full budget. This will be the 12th full budget of the Modi government. The poor, middle class, farmers, and salaried class have high expectations from this budget. The Modi government may open its coffers for certain sections of society.

All eyes will be on the budget speech. The previous budget was favourable for farmers, taxpayers, and salaried individuals. This time too, these sections will be keenly watching the budget, as the government may make some major announcements. The Halwa ceremony was held on Saturday evening, and since then, everyone has been eagerly awaiting the budget speech. Many are also wondering who will present the budget. You can find the answers to these questions below to clear your confusion.

At what time will the Union Budget be presented?

The central government will present the second full budget of the Modi government 3.0 at 11 AM. This budget will be presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. This will be her ninth consecutive budget. She will also set a record for presenting the budget the most number of times. Moreover, she will be the first Finance Minister in the history of independent India to present the budget on a Sunday.

The fact that it’s a Sunday will further enhance the significance of this occasion. If you want to listen to the budget live, you don’t need to worry. You can easily listen to the live budget and get real-time updates. You can watch the live broadcast of the budget on TV platforms and mobile devices.

At what time was the budget presented until 1999?

Until 1999, the country’s budget was presented at 5 PM. This was a practice from the colonial era, in accordance with British working hours. The then Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha changed this tradition. He changed the time of the budget presentation to 11 AM, a tradition that is still followed. Later, in 2017, another major change was made, and the date of the budget presentation was shifted to February 1st.

Officials participating in the Halwa ceremony were kept under observation.

The Halwa ceremony was organised on Saturday evening, on the eve of the presentation of the full budget. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and the officials involved in preparing the budget participated in the ceremony. Nirmala Sitharaman distributed the halwa to all the officials.

Following this, all the officials involved in budget preparation were confined until the conclusion of the budget speech. The budget-making officials are kept in isolation after the halwa ceremony to prevent any confidential information from being leaked prematurely.