Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is scheduled to present the Union Budget 2026 on Feb. 1, a Sunday, making it an unusual day for the annual exercise. With the countdown underway, attention is also on the Budget speech, which sets out the government’s economic priorities for the coming financial year. The Budget 2026 presentation will be Sitharaman’s ninth in a row, marking the highest number of consecutive Budget speeches. In 2025, she became the first Finance Minister to deliver eight consecutive Union Budgets.
Over the years, Budget speeches have evolved in both tone and substance as governments respond to changing economic realities. While they are primarily tracked for policy direction and fiscal signals, some addresses have also stood out for their duration, either for being unusually long or remarkably brief.
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Nirmala Sitharaman: Longest Union Budget Speech
The longest Union Budget speech in India’s parliamentary history, measured by duration, was delivered by Nirmala Sitharaman in 2020. Her presentation of Budget 2020-2021 ran for two hours and 42 minutes, making it the longest Budget speech on record.
During the 2020 presentation, Sitharaman announced major policy measures, including a new income tax regime. She also announced the long-awaited initial public offering of the Life Insurance Corporation of India.
However, midway through the lengthy presentation, Sitharaman fell ill, prompting Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to read out the final two pages on her behalf.
The 2020 speech went past her own 2019 record, when she spoke for two hours and 17 minutes. By comparison, her interim Budget speech in 2024 lasted 56 minutes, making it her shortest Budget address since she took charge as finance minister.
Before Sitharaman, the longest Budget speech was delivered by Jaswant Singh in 2003, lasting two hours and 13 minutes, followed by Arun Jaitley’s 2014 address, which ran for two hours and 10 minutes.
Hirubhai M Patel: Shortest Union Budget Speech
The shortest Union Budget speech delivered was presented by Hirubhai M Patel during the 1977-78 financial year. Serving in the Morarji Desai government, Patel delivered an interim Budget speech of only around 800 words, which remains the shortest Budget address in India’s history.
Manmohan Singh: Longest Budget Speech By Word Count
When measured in terms of word count, the longest Union Budget speech belongs to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. His 1991 Budget speech, as the Finance Minister under the PV Narasimha Rao government, ran to 18,650 words. It continues to hold the record for the longest based on word count.
Arun Jaitley: Second-Longest Budget Speech By Word Count
The second-longest Budget speech by word count was delivered by Arun Jaitley in 2018. His Budget address contained 18,604 words, placing it just behind Manmohan Singh’s 1991 record.
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