Nirmala Sitharaman Presents India's Union Budget

Nirmala Sitharaman, the Finance Minister of India, presented the Union Budget 2026 on February 1, marking her ninth consecutive budget speech. This event is significant for outlining the government's economic priorities, fiscal signals, and policy direction for the coming financial year. The articles also highlight historical records related to budget speeches, including Nirmala Sitharaman's 2020 speech being the longest by duration (2 hours and 42 minutes), Manmohan Singh's 1991 speech being the longest by word count (18,650 words), and Hirubhai M. Patel's 1977-78 speech being the shortest by word count (800 words). The 2026 budget included announcements such as raising the capex target to ₹12.2 lakh crore for FY27 and measures to boost infrastructure and facilitate sales by manufacturing units in special economic zones. The presentation of the budget on a Sunday was also noted as unusual.