New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present her ninth consecutive Budget, the Union Budget 2026, on 1 February, a Sunday. This article revisits the shortest and longest Budget speeches by finance ministers in the history of independent India.
Longest Speech: The longest Union Budget speech in India’s parliamentary history, measured by duration, was delivered by Nirmala Sitharaman during her second term in 2020. Her presentation of the Union Budget 2020–21 ran for two hours and 42 minutes, making it the longest Budget speech on record.
However, midway through the lengthy speech, Sitharaman fell ill, prompting Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to read out the final two pages on her behalf.
Shortest Budget Speech: Hirubhai M. Patel delivered the shortest Union Budget speech. His address was around 800 words long and lasted for less than 10 minutes. Patel was serving in the Morarji Desai government at the time.
Longest Budget Speech by Word Count: The longest Union Budget speech in terms of word count was delivered by Manmohan Singh. His 1991 Budget speech comprised 18,650 words. He was serving as Finance Minister under the P. V. Narasimha Rao government.
The second-longest Budget speech by word count was delivered by Arun Jaitley in 2018. His Budget address contained 18,604 words.
Market timings on Budget day
On Budget day, the stock market will follow normal trading hours. The equity market will open at 9:30 am and close at 3:30 pm. All major segments, including equity and derivatives, will operate like a regular market day.
This special trading session ensures that investors, traders and institutions can respond in real time to the Union Budget announcements.
