In less than a hour, India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman wrapped up her interim budget speech on February 1st 2024. All eyes were on her as this was the BJP led govt’s last budget presentation before the nation holds Lok Sabha elections in April-May this year.
This was FM Sitharaman’s sixth budget presentation since becoming India’s first full time female Finance Minister in 2019. While her 2020 speech had broken a record, her interim budget speech this year has done something similar.
Nirmala Sitharaman’s 56-Minute Budget Speech Becomes Shortest Ever
India’s FM Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday delivered her shortest ever budget speech, which lasted for just 56 minutes (as per PTI). Her speech this time had 5,246 words.Before delivering her shortest ever budget speech on February 1st 2024, Sitharaman’s previous shortest budget speech was last year. Her budget 2023 speech had lasted for 87 minutes.
Sitharaman Holds The Record Of Longest Ever Budget Speech By India’s FM
FM Sitharaman’s Union Budget 2020 speech remains the longest budget speech in India’s history, spanning for 2 hours and 42 minutes. On the other hand, in terms of the number of words, the record of the longest budget speech is held by Manmohan Singh who used 18,650 words while presenting the budget in 1991.
Duration Of Nirmala Sitharaman’s All Six Budget Speeches
- 2024: 56 minutes
- 2023: 87 minutes
- 2022: 92 minutes
- 2021: 1 hour 50 minutes
- 2020: 2 hours 42 minutes
- 2019: 2 hours 17 minutes
When & Who Delivered India’s First Ever Budget Speech?
On 26th November 1947, India’s first Finance Minister R. K. Shanmukham Chetty presented the country’s first budget post independence. Chetty served as India’s first FM from 15 August 1947 to 17 August 1948. At that time, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was our PM.
As far as the pre indepedence era is concerned, the first pre-independence Budget for India was presented by James Wilson on February 18, 1869. Wilson is also the man who introduced the concept of income tax in India. Click here to read more about him.
