India’s Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, is slated to present the Union Budget on Sunday, February 1st. This upcoming presentation will mark her ninth consecutive budget, setting a new record as the only Finance Minister to present nine successive budgets during a single Prime Minister’s tenure.
The history of budget presentations in India dates back to the British colonial era. The very first budget was delivered on April 7, 1860, by James Wilson, who served as the Finance Minister in the British government at the time. Following India’s independence, the nation’s inaugural budget was presented by R. K. Shanmukham Chetty on November 26, 1947.
Notable Records in Budget Presentations
Several distinguished figures have left their mark on India’s financial history with their extensive budget presentations. Former Prime Minister Morarji Desai holds the record for presenting the highest number of budgets, with a total of ten. He fulfilled the role of Finance Minister under Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Lal Bahadur Shastri during his tenure.
The late former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is also recognized for his significant contributions, having presented five Union Budgets. These were delivered consecutively between 1991 and 1995 while he served as Finance Minister in the P. V. Narasimha Rao government.
Former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has presented the budget nine times. His first budget was on March 19, 1996, under Prime Minister H. D. Deve Gowda’s government, followed by another in the same United Front administration. He then presented five budgets between 2004 and 2008, and again in 2009, 2013, and 2014 under the Congress-led UPA government.
Finance Ministers with Multiple Budgets
Former President Pranab Mukherjee delivered eight budget speeches during his time as Finance Minister. He presented three budgets in 1982, 1983, and 1984, and subsequently five consecutive budgets between February 2009 and March 2012 within the Congress-led UPA government. Current Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who has been India’s female Finance Minister since 2019, has already presented eight budgets, including an interim budget, and is poised to present her ninth in 2026.
