Union Budget 2026: Sitharaman's Ninth Budget, Date Shift, and Historical Milestones

• Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is expected to present her ninth consecutive Union Budget on Sunday, February 1, 2026, marking a significant event as it falls on a holiday.
• The budget presentation date was shifted from February 28 to February 1 in 2017 by the Modi government to ensure faster parliamentary approval and implementation from April 1.
• Sitharaman is nearing Morarji Desai's record of 10 Union Budgets, having already presented eight, and will reach nine with the 2026 budget.
• India's first Union Budget was presented on November 26, 1947, by R. K. Shanmukham Chetty; the presentation time changed from 5 PM to 11 AM in 1999.
• Morarji Desai holds the record for presenting the most Union Budgets (10), followed by P. Chidambaram (9) and Pranab Mukherjee (8).

Why It Matters: Nirmala Sitharaman's ninth budget on Feb 1, 2026, continues the date shift for faster implementation.