Halwa Ceremony
Finance ministry holds customary 'halwa' ceremony ahead of FY26 Budget
This story was originally published at 18:26 IST on 24 January 2025
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NEW DELHI – The finance ministry Friday held the customary "halwa" ceremony ahead of the presentation of the Union Budget for 2025-26 (Apr-Mar) on Feb. 1, a senior government official said. The halwa ceremony, which earlier used to mark the printing of the Budget document, now only denotes the ensuing "lock-in" period of the Budget-making process.
Like the previous four full Union Budgets and one Interim Budget, the FY26 Budget will also be delivered in a paperless form and only a few copies will be printed.
According to the official, the ceremony was attended by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary, Finance Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey, Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth, Department of Expenditure Secretary Manoj Govil, Department of Financial Services Secretary M. Nagaraju, and other senior finance ministry officials.
The Budget Session will commence with President Droupadi Murmu's address to the joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament on Jan. 31 and tabling of the Economic Survey. The Budget session of Parliament will conclude on Apr. 4 but will have a five-week recess from Feb. 13 to Mar. 10 when the standing committees associated with various departments will examine the demands for grants and submit reports relating to their ministries.
The Budget will be available on the "Union Budget Mobile App" after the completion of the finance minister's speech in Parliament. The upcoming Budget comes against the backdrop of slowing economic growth with India's GDP growth seen at a four-year low of 6.4% in FY25. The finance minister is widely expected to address the demand slowdown and provide relief to urban households in the Budget. End
Reported by Priyasmita Dutta
Edited by Nishant Maher
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