Union Budget 2026: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is going to present the Union Budget 2026-27 on Sunday, February 1. Let us tell you that Parliament rarely meets on Sundays. For this reason this decision seems quite unusual at first glance. But this is not the first time in the history of India that the Union Budget is being presented on Sunday. In fact, this happened more than two decades ago. Let us know when.

what’s different this time

The Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs headed by Defense Minister Rajnath Singh approved the parliamentary calendar. After this, the way was cleared for presenting the budget on Sunday. Ever since the date of Union Budget was changed from 28 February to 1 February in 2017, it has sometimes fallen on weekends or mostly on Saturdays. However, presenting the budget on a Sunday is quite rare.

When has this happened before?

The last time the budget in India was presented on a Sunday was on 28 February 1999. At that time, the then Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha had presented the budget for 1999-2000 under the NDA government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

This budget was special not only because it was presented on a Sunday, but also because it changed the timing of presenting the budget. Till then the Union Budget was traditionally presented at 5:00 pm. This is because according to Britain’s time zone, this was the practice of the colonial era. Breaking this tradition, Yashwant Sinha presented the budget at 11:00 am and this change continues even today.

What was special in that budget?

The 1999 budget was a major step in India’s reform journey. A 10% surcharge was imposed on personal income tax and corporate tax, customs duties were rationalized and the maximum customs duty rate was reduced from 45% to 40%. The government also abolished 5% special custom duty, which was a big step towards trade liberalization and simplification of tax structure. Along with this, rural India also got a boost because the allocation of Rural Infrastructure Development Fund was increased to Rs 3500 crore.

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Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said on Friday (January 9, 2026) that the budget session of Parliament will start from January 28, 2026 and will continue till April 2, 2026. He posted on X and said, ‘On the recommendation of the Government of India, Honorable President Draupadi Murmu has given approval to convene both the Houses of Parliament for the budget session of 2026. This session will start from 28 January 2026 and will continue till 2 April 2026. The first phase will end on 13 February 2026. The second phase of Parliament will run from March 9, 2026 to April 2.

There will be no meeting of both the houses on 29 January. Parliament will meet on January 30, the day the Economic Survey is likely to be presented. After this, there will be no meeting of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on 31 January.

When will the budget be presented?

The Union Budget may be presented on Sunday, February 1. After discussing the motion of thanks on the President’s address and the Union Budget, Parliament will adjourn on February 13 for a recess of about a month. Parliament will meet again on March 9 and the session will end on April 2.

On the recommendation of the Govt of India, Hon’ble President of India, Smt. Droupadi Murmu ji has approved the summoning of both the Houses of Parliament for the Budget Session 2026.
The Session will commence on 28 January 2026 and continue till 2 April 2026.

The first phase… pic.twitter.com/FxGYCL7keq

— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) January 9, 2026

Nirmala Sitharaman will present the ninth consecutive budget

Officials said that normally the Parliament session is adjourned on Friday, but keeping in mind Good Friday and the subsequent weekend on April 3, the session will end on April 2. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the ninth consecutive budget this time. The current government has retained the date of February 1 in the budget program from 2017 onwards.

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