Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will deliver her 9th Union Budget speech on February 1 and, like recent years, she will be reading it from a tablet. It wasn't always this way. Over the years, the Union Budget has seen several changes, both in how and when it is presented.
For decades, finance ministers carried Budget papers in a briefcase. Sitharaman broke with this decades-old custom in 2019 when she introduced a "bahi khata." Later in 2021, she opted for a paperless format, using a tablet made in India to read out the budget proposals.
Budget Evolution
In 1947, India's first Finance Minister, RK Shanmukham Chetty, followed the British tradition of carrying a leather bag into Parliament to present the Union Budget. For decades, this briefcase remained a symbol of the Budget, seen in countless photographs and news reports.
Then, in 2019, Sitharaman carried a red-coloured “bahi khata” to present the Union Budget. A bahi khata is a traditional Indian ledger that business owners have used for decades to keep track of their accounts.
Sitharaman said it was “easier” to carry compared to the heavy briefcase and also described it as “very Indian.”
In 2021, she moved away from the traditional bahi khata and presented the Union Budget using a tablet. It was the first one presented after the Covid-19 pandemic. Even though she used a tablet, Sitharaman carried it in a red pouch designed like a bahi khata.
Union Budget 2026
For four decades, the basement of North Block, where India's Ministry of Finance is situated, housed a printing press that produced all the Union Budget documents. Since 2020, most of the Budget has become digital. Only a small number of physical copies are printed now.
Going digital also shortened the lock-in period, the time when the Budget is kept confidential before the official release. Earlier, this period could last up to two weeks, but with digital setup, it has been reduced to just five days.
