The budget is presented on 1 February.
There is suspense regarding which day the Finance Minister will present the budget for the financial year 2025-26 next year. Since 2017, the budget is presented every year on February 1 at 11 am. But this time February 1, 2026 is a Sunday, so the picture is not clear yet whether the budget will be presented on that day or not.
According to sources, it is yet to be decided whether the budget will be presented on Saturday, January 31 or on Monday, February 2 or on Sunday, February 1. It is noteworthy that there is a tradition of presenting the budget on February 1, which was started by the then Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in 2017.
When will the budget come?
This year i.e. 2025, February 1st was on Saturday and the interim budget was presented on that day. Even before this, the budget has been presented on Saturday. But this is happening for the first time when February 1st is a Sunday. Sunday is a holiday in government offices and stock markets. This time, Saint Ravidas Jayanti is also on 1st February. In such a situation, there is a possibility that this time the budget will be presented on 31 January or 2 February. According to sources, the final decision will be taken by the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs.
Has the date changed before?
This is not the first time that the budget date is falling on a weekend. When this has happened before, the date has rarely been changed. In fact, the Government of India has often kept the date of presenting the budget on Saturday, so that it is according to the calendar of the Parliament. Many times in the past also the budget has been presented on the weekend. For example, last year Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2025-26 on Saturday. Earlier, the then Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had presented the budget on 28 February 2015, which was a Saturday. In 2016 also, he presented the budget on Saturday, 27 February. Earlier, the budget was also presented on 3 March 2001 (Saturday) and 28 February 2004 (Saturday).