Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget 2025 on Saturday (Feb 1). This will be her eighth consecutive budget presentation, and she will become the first Finance Minister to achieve this feat.
What is the Union Budget 2025?
The Union Budget 2025 is an annual financial statement that will provide a proposal of expenditures and revenues of the federal government for the next fiscal year, starting April 1, 2025, till March 31, 2026.
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Prime Ministers who have presented the Union Budget
1. Jawaharlal Nehru
India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, presented the Union Budget in 1958. Nehru assumed responsibility for the finance ministry and presented the budget after the then-finance minister, T T Krishnamachari, resigned on February 12 amid the Mundhra Scandal.
2. Morarji Desai
Moraji Desai presented a total of 10 Union Budgets between 1959 and 1967, becoming the only person to hold this record. He served as prime minister of India from 1977 to 1979 and was a member of the Janata Dal party.
3. Indira Gandhi
Indira Gandhi, the first female prime minister of India, presented the Union Budget for 1970. She took control of the finance ministry in 1969 after the resignation of Morarji Desai for about a year.
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4. Rajiv Gandhi
Rajiv Gandhi presented the Union Budget when he briefly took charge of the finance ministry from January to July 1987 after then-finance minister, V P Singh, was removed from his position.
5. Manmohan Singh
Former prime minister Manmohan Singh also served as the finance minister under P V Narasimha Rao's government between 1991 and 1996. In 1991, the budget that he presented was regarded as one of the most transformative budgets of India.
(With inputs from agencies)