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Informist, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026

 

NEW DELHI – The finance ministry Tuesday held the customary "halwa" ceremony ahead of the presentation of the Union Budget for 2026-27 (Apr-Mar) on Feb. 1, the finance ministry 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 five full Union Budgets and one Interim Budget, the FY27 Budget will also be delivered in a paperless form and only a few copies will be printed.

 

The ceremony was attended by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary, Expenditure Secretary Vumlunmang Vualnam, Economic Affairs Secretary Anuradha Thakur, Revenue Secretary Arvind Shrivastava, Department of Financial Services Secretary M. Nagaraju, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management Secretary Arunish Chawla 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 Wednesday. Sitharaman will table the Economic Survey for FY26 on Thursday. Parliament will adjourn for a recess on Feb. 13 to enable the various standing committees to examine demands for grants and make reports relating to their departments. Parliament will reconvene Mar. 9. The session will end Apr. 2.

 

The Budget will be available on the "Union Budget Mobile App" after the completion of the finance minister's speech in Parliament. The Budget comes at a time when the economy is dealing with multiple exogenous pressures, which has made it imperative for the government to continue with measures to support domestic growth. The economy is expected to grow 7.4% in FY26, as per the first advance estimates. 

 

Sitharaman's ninth Budget also assumes special importance from a fiscal policy perspective as the government is transitioning from one fiscal consolidation metric to another. The government has projected its fiscal deficit for FY26 at 4.4% of GDP, marking the last leg of the fiscal consolidation roadmap under the current framework before it shifts to targeting the debt-to-GDP ratio from FY27.  End 

 

Reported by Priyasmita Dutta 

Edited by Tanima Banerjee

 

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