Union Budget 2026: Here is why the date and time of the Budget were changed

With the Union Budget 2026 for the financial year 2026–27 scheduled to be tabled in Parliament on Sunday, February 1, at 11 am, the spotlight is also on how India’s Budget process itself has evolved.

The timing and date of the Budget presentation were not always what they are today. In fact, both were changed through deliberate policy decisions aimed at breaking colonial-era practices and improving administrative efficiency

For nearly five decades after Independence, India followed a colonial-era tradition when it came to presenting the Union Budget. From 1947 until the late 1990s, the Budget was presented at 5 pm.

This timing had little to do with Indian administrative convenience and everything to do with British rule. When it was 5 pm in India, it was 11 am in the United Kingdom, allowing British officials to track developments comfortably.

Even after Independence, the practice continued largely unquestioned. Many administrative systems inherited from colonial rule remained unchanged, and Budget timing was one of them. Over time, aligning India’s most important financial announcement with foreign time zones lost all relevance, yet the system persisted for more than 50 years.

A decisive break came in 1999, during the tenure of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Then Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha shifted the Budget presentation to 11 am. The move was both symbolic and practical.

It signalled that India’s fiscal decisions would now be structured around domestic governance needs. Since then, the morning presentation has become standard, allowing Parliament, markets and stakeholders a full day to respond to policy announcements.

The Budget’s date also underwent a major reform. Until 2016, the Union Budget was presented on the last working day of February. This often left little time for ministries and departments to implement policy decisions before the new financial year began on April 1.

In 2017, then Finance Minister Arun Jaitley advanced the Budget presentation to February 1. The objective was clear: enable faster implementation of tax changes, spending plans and policy measures from the start of the financial year. Since then, all full Budgets have been presented on February 1, except interim Budgets during election years.