Before introducing the Union Budget 2025, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman met with President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan today. President Murmu gave Ms some ‘dahi-cheeni’ (yogurt with sugar) pursuant to custom. Sitharaman, a sign said to bring “luck.
Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary and several senior officials attended Sitharaman’s presentation of critical elements of the Budget to the President. Following it, she went to Parliament to present her record eighth straight budget speech.
In 2019, Sitharaman started the practice of presenting the Budget on a digital tablet inside a traditional red &’bahi-khata&’ pouch; thus it was a break from the Budget briefcase from the British era. She has been giving the Budget online since 2021, thereby maintaining this custom for five years now. Preceding her, Arun Jaitley and Piyush Goyal used briefcases—a tradition dating back to the 1860s when British Chancellor William Gladstone carried his Budget in a red leather case.
India’s GDP growth for the financial year 2025-26 was forecast between 6.3 percent and 6.8 percent in the Economic Survey 2024-25 before the Budget. Starting January 31 with a double address by President Murmu, the Budget session of Parliament will run till April 4 with a recess between March 10 and February 13.
