President Murmu offers 'dahi-chini' to Sitharaman ahead of Union Budget 2025-26 presentation

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday called on President Droupadi Murmu before presenting her record eighth Budget in the Lok Sabha.

As per established tradition, the finance minister met the President at the Rashtrapati Bhavan before heading to Parliament.

President Murmu offered 'dahi-chini' (curd-sugar), considered auspicious, to Sitharaman before she left for Parliament to present the Union Budget.

"Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Smt Nirmala Sitharaman along with Minister of State for Finance Shri Pankaj Chaudhary and senior officials of the Ministry of Finance called on President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan before presenting the Union Budget. The President expressed best wishes to the Union Finance Minister and her team for the presentation of budget," President's office said in a post on X.

Before the actual presentation in Parliament, the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the Budget for fiscal 2025-26 (April 2025 to March 2026).

Clamour for tax relief is running high as Sitharaman presents her eighth Budget in the Lok Sabha on Saturday.

The Budget would give a glimpse of the Modi government's measures to boost economy which is expected to slow down to 6.4 per cent in the current financial year while outlining the roadmap to make India 'Viksit Bharat' by 2047.

Sitharaman continues with the tradition she set in 2019, carrying the budget speech in a 'bahi-khata', which she used after dropping the briefcase tradition.