Budget session begins Jan 28; FM Sitharaman to present Budget on Feb 1

New Delhi, Jan 12: In a first, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the general budget in Parliament on February 1, a Sunday, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla announced on Monday.

This will be Sitharaman's ninth budget presentation, one short of the record 10 budgets presented by the then finance minister Morarji Desai.

The Budget session of Parliament begins on January 28 with President Droupadi Murmu addressing the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha members assembled in the Lok Sabha chamber.

Sitharaman is likely to present the Economic Survey in both the Houses of Parliament after the President's address.

The finance minister will present the General Budget on February 1, which has been designated as the Budget Day by the government.

Earlier, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju had said the Budget session will begin on January 28 and continue till April 2.

The first part of the session will conclude on February 13 and reconvene on March 9, allowing time for scrutiny of Budget proposals by parliamentary committees.

Meanwhile, the Congress, on Monday, hoped that the forthcoming Union Budget will take meaningful steps to address the challenges of sluggish private corporate investment and disparities in income as higher GDP growth rates in actuality will simply not be sustainable.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said household savings rates have declined considerably, and wealth, income, and consumption inequalities continue to deepen.

Ramesh said it remains to be seen if the forthcoming Union Budget boldly comes out of the comfort zone of statistical illusions, acknowledges realities and challenges, and takes meaningful steps to deal with them.

"It will no doubt reflect the recommendations of the 16th Finance Commission that had submitted its report on November 17, 2025. These recommendations, covering the period 2026/27- 2031/32, relate to the sharing of tax revenues between the Centre and States and the distribution of these revenues among the States themselves," he said in a social media post.

PTI