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With inputs from PTI
The Union Budget is a comprehensive document that tells us the government's estimates of revenue and expenditure for a financial year. Here are some important facts about the budget.
Historic 9
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present her ninth consecutive budget on February 1, taking her closer to the record of 10 budgets presented by former Prime Minister Morarji Desai.
Record holder
Morarji Desai presented a total of 10 budgets during his tenure as finance minister under Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, and later under Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri.
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First budget
The first-ever Union Budget of independent India was presented on November 26, 1947, by the country’s first finance minister, R K Shanmukham Chetty.
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Longest speech
Sitharaman holds the record for the longest budget speech, when her presentation in 2020 lasted two hours and 40 minutes. She had to cut short her speech with two pages remaining.
Shortest speech
Hirubhai Mulljibhai Patel's interim Budget speech in 1977 is so far the shortest at just 800 words.
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Timing
The Budget used to be presented on the last day of February at 5 PM, a colonial-era practice to ensure the presentation happened during the day in the UK. In 1999, the timing was changed to 11 AM.
Date
In 2017, the date of the budget presentation was changed from the last day of February to February 1, to allow the government to implement it from the start of the fiscal year on April 1.
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