On 1st February 2026, India will present her 93rd
Union Budget since independence, including 12 interim budgets presented before
the general elections. Until 2016, India followed a British‑era practice of
presenting the Budget on the last working day of February. This had a lot of
problems, since the financial year started on April 1, which meant ministries,
businesses, and taxpayers had very little time to act on the new policies and
tax rules.
In 2017, the then Finance Minister, Late Shri Arun
Jaitley, presented the Budget for the first time on February 1. Since then, the
government has kept the early date. The objective is to give everyone more time
to plan before the new fiscal year begins.
In the context of global uncertainties and
geopolitical volatilities fueled by the trade war initiated by the Trump
Administration through tariff impositions, the Union Budget 2026 is expected to
be a trailblazer for the Indian economy.
As we prepare to witness another historic budget on the 1st of February, let us understand the various milestone budgets through which India has passed over the years.
The First Budget of India in 1860
Budget, while present in its varied terminologies in
India since time immemorial, took its present‑day structure when it was first
introduced by Mr. James Wilson, a renowned Scottish economist and politician
under the East India Company, who presented the Budget of India on the 7th of
April 1860 to the then British Crown. The first budget was introduced in India
against the backdrop of the financial stress faced by the British Government
following the 1857 Rebellion, known as the Sepoy Mutiny or the First War of
Independence. The Budget also saw the introduction of Income Tax in India.
The First Budget of the Independent India in 1947
Shri. R K Shanmukham Chetty on the 26th of
November 1947, presented what is known as the first Budget of Independent
India. The budget covered a period from the Independence Day on 15th
August 1947 to 31st March 1948, focusing on partition relief,
ensuring food-sufficiency amidst significant post-partition challenges, and
allocating a large share of expenditure towards defense. The historic budget
laid foundation stone for India’s economic planning, and he road ahead.
The Black Budget of 1973
The Union Budget of 1973, presented by the then Finance
Minister Shri. Yashwantrao B Chavan is generally termed as the Black Budget of
India, or the Budget of Crisis. The budget received this infamous nickname because
of the massive
fiscal deficit of Rs 550 crore, an unprecedented figure/ amount which highlighted
the country's economic challenges. This resulted due to many reasons. The most important
of them being the 1971 India-Pakistan war which drained Indian resources. The
post-war expenses were also huge, including the enormous task of rehabilitating
over 10 million refugees, which took a huge toll on the country’s exchequer. The
defence costs rose to a staggering Rs 1,600 crore. Adding to the challenges, the
1972 drought also ripped apart the agricultural sector and left rural India
reeling under food shortages. India's urban areas were also not safe; power
shortages and rising unemployment were a major issue there.
The Carrot & Stick Budget
of 1986
On 28th February
1986, Shri. Vishwanath Prathap Singh, the then Union Minister of Finance presented
before the Parliament house, a budget which was termed as the first move
towards dismantling the licence-raj in India. The budget presented by him provided
both incentives and penalties, thus earning the nickname, “The Carrot & Stick
Budget”. Under the budget, Mr. Singh initiated steps to dismantle the License
Raj and reform the tax structure. It introduced MODVAT (Modified Value Added
Tax) to reduce cascading taxes, boosted plan outlay by 20%, and significantly
increased apportionments for anti-poverty programs. The budget focused mainly
on reforming tax compliance through a mix of incentives for compliance and
strict measures against tax evasions.
The Epochal Budget of 1991
The dictionary meaning of
the word “epoch” refers to “an event or a time marked by an event that begins a
new period or development”. In that sense, the 1991 Union Budget of India, presented
by the then Finance Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh is truly worthy to the nickname,
the epochal budget. The 1991 Union Budget was presented at a time when India
was facing a serious balance-of-payments crisis. It marked the start of
economic liberalization by cutting customs duties and opening-up the economy, thus
earning the nickname. These steps laid the foundation for major reforms that
transformed India’s economic direction and helped integrate it with the global
economy.
The Dream Budget of 1997
In the year 1997, using the
principles of Laffer Curve, the then Union Finance Minister, Shri. P Chidambaram
took bold measures to increase tax collections by lowering the tax rates. Laffer
Curve is a theory developed by renowned American economist and author Mr. Alfred
Laffer, illustrating that, raising tax rates does not always increase
government revenue. After a point, higher taxes can actually reduce collections
because people work less, hide income, or avoid taxes.
Keeping this in view, Shri.
Chidambaram unleashed major tax reforms including slashing of maximum marginal income
tax rate for individuals and corporates, introduction of voluntary disclosure
of income to curb black money, slashed customs duty from 220% to 150%, and simplified
the excise duty structure.
The Millennium Budget of
2000
The budget at the turn of
the millennium, presented by the then Union Finance Minister, Shri. Yashwant
Sinha, was called the Millennium Budget. This was because it focused on
encouraging technology and the IT sector by cutting customs duty on computers
and related products, making them cheaper and more accessible. It reflected
India’s push to prepare for the digital age and attract investment in new-age
industries.
The Rollback Budget of 2002
According to the Marriam-Webster Dictionary, the word rollback
means “to
cause to retreat or withdraw”. In that sense, the 2002 budget presented by Shri,
Yashwant Sinha can be termed as the rollback budget. This was because many of
its proposals faced strong public and political opposition. Measures such as
higher taxes and user charges led to protests, forcing the government to
withdraw or soften several decisions.
The Once-in-a-century Budget
of 2021
The Union Budget of 2021,
presented by the honourable Finance Minister, Smt. Nirmala Sitaraman was referred
as the once-in-a-century budget for many reasons. Presented in the aftermath of
the COVID-19 pandemic, the worst health and economic crisis the world had faced
in generations, the 2021 Union Budget responded to an economy that had shrunk,
with jobs lost and businesses under severe stress. Instead of sticking firmly
to deficit targets, the government chose to spend more to revive growth, with
an understanding that such large spending was necessary in such an exceptional situation.
This marked a clear shift
from the usual focus of the government on saving money to spending for
recovery, with an emphasis on long-term growth rather than short-term fiscal
discipline. The union budget of 2021 prioritized areas like infrastructure,
healthcare, banking reforms, privatization and asset monetization, targeting to
build a strong foundation for the future rather than offering quick populist
relief, while also openly acknowledging a high fiscal deficit to reflect
transparency and realism.
The Sunday Budget of 2026
The Union Budget of 2026,
to be presented on the 1st of February 2026 will be remembered as a
chapter inked in golden letters in the history of India. Historically, no Union
Budget of the country happened on working days. While some budgets were
presented on Saturdays, Sunday was never an option for the presentation of
Budget. The budget 2026 is different in this context.
India for the first time
in its history will present a budget on a Sunday. This is also the first time since
the shift in budget presentation day to February 1st, the date falls
on a Sunday.
For the finance minister the budget is of many records,
the first budget presented by any minister on Sunday, the 9th consecutive
budget of the minister, the second highest number of budgets presented by any minister
since 1947, the highest number of consecutive budgets presented by any minister
since independence, and so on. But with all that, the budget is a litmus test
for both the economy as well as the government represented by the minister. In
a time, when geopolitical volatilities creating uncertainties and
global economic shrinkage, the 2026 Union Budget of the Government of India
plays a significant role in supporting and boosting India's economic growth.
