Budget 2025-26: FM Nirmala Sitharaman Holds Pre-Budget Consultations With States and UTs

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday chaired a pre-Budget consultation in Delhi with finance ministers of States and Union Territories as part of preparations for the Union Budget 2025-26.

The meeting aimed to gather inputs from states on fiscal priorities, economic challenges, and key policy measures ahead of the annual Budget presentation.

The Budget Session of Parliament will begin on January 28 and continue until April 2. Sitharaman is set to present the Union Budget 2026-27 on Sunday, February 1, 2026, making it the first time in decades that the Budget will be presented on a Sunday. Ahead of this, the Economic Survey is expected to be tabled on January 20.

Union Minister Kiren Rijiju confirmed in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that the Budget Session has been approved by President Droupadi Murmu on the recommendation of the Union government.

The session will be held in two parts: the first from January 28 to February 13 and the second from March 9 to April 2.

This will be Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s ninth consecutive Union Budget and the 88th Budget since India’s Independence. Since 2017, the government has presented the Budget at 11 am on February 1, a practice initiated during former finance minister Arun Jaitley’s tenure to allow for faster implementation of proposals from the start of the financial year.