New Delhi- If Parliamentary convention is followed, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the General Budget for 2026-27 on a Sunday, according to officials. The budget has been presented on the first day of February since 2017, and in 2026, it is a Sunday.
However, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, when asked about it, said, “These decisions are taken by the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs at an appropriate time.”
The February 1 date was selected to ensure implementation of the Budget at the start of the new financial year on April 1.
According to an official, “We have a fixed day for the presentation of the general budget. The concept of Sunday was brought by the British.”
Prior to 2017, the general budget was presented on the last day of February, and the Parliament would pass the vote on account to withdraw monies from the Consolidated Fund of India to meet the expenses for the first quarter of the new fiscal year.
The budget for the rest of the financial year used to be sanctioned by Parliament at a later date, after the examination of the demands for grants of various departments by the respective parliamentary standing committees.
In 2017, then Finance Minister Arun Jaitley started the practice of presenting the general budget on February 1 and getting it approved by Parliament by the end of March, well before the start of the new financial year.
Parliament has had sittings on Sundays under special circumstances, such as the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and on May 13, 2012, to mark the 60th anniversary of the first sitting of Parliament. (PTI)