Union Budget 2026: English To Hindi, How The Budget Changed In 1955

We are days away from another Budget presentation, which will continue a fiscal tradition that has steadily evolved since its early years. The Budget outlines how the government plans to raise revenue, allocate expenditure, and guide the economy in the year ahead. While its format and priorities have changed over the decades, the roots of the Budget go back to the colonial era.

India's first Union Budget was presented on April 7, 1860, by James Wilson, the finance member of the Indian Council and the founder of The Economist newspaper. At the time, the Budget was printed only in English, reflecting the needs of the British administration and its English-speaking audience.

From A Colonial Document To A Public One

After the first Union Budget of independent India was tabled by Finance Minister RK Shanmukham Chetty on November 26, 1947, the budgetary process gradually evolved, setting the stage for a landmark change in how the document was presented.

A major shift came in the mid-1950s, when the government moved to make the Budget accessible to a much wider section of the population. After India gained Independence in 1947, there was growing recognition that key policy documents needed to reach beyond a limited audience.

The 1955 Budget And A Historic Language Shift

The turning point came with the Union Budget of 1955, presented under then Finance Minister CD Deshmukh. For the first time, the Budget was printed in both English and Hindi, a historic moment in India's parliamentary and administrative history.

During his tenure, CD Deshmukh played a major role in strengthening financial institutions, including establishing the Reserve Bank of India as a strong authority. An economist and civil servant, he was also closely associated with the creation of India's first Five-Year Plans, laying the foundation for the country's industrial growth and infrastructure development.

Union Budget 2026

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to present the Union Budget for FY 2026-27 in Parliament on February 1. This will be her ninth consecutive Budget, the highest by any finance minister. Sitharaman has been presenting the Budget since 2019 and introduced India's first paperless Budget in 2021, delivering it using a digital tablet carried in a traditional ‘bahi-khata' style pouch.