India's Union Budget has a rich history filled with interesting milestones and memorable moments. Here are some notable facts:

- In 1860, James Wilson, a Scottish economist with the East India Company, presented India's first interim budget during the British era.

- Only three Prime Ministers have presented the Union Budget:

  • Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in 1958
  • Indira Gandhi in 1970
  • Rajiv Gandhi in 1987

- In 1947, RK Shanmukham Chetty presented India's first interim budget post-independence, addressing urgent issues like food grain shortages, rising imports, and inflation.

- In 1950, the Union Budget was leaked during Finance Minister John Mathai's tenure, an unprecedented event at the time.

-The 1955-56 budget saw a shift to bilingual presentations, with budgets printed in both English and Hindi.

- After 1980, the budget printing process was moved from Rashtrapati Bhawan to Minto Road.

- Manmohan Singh's 1991 budget is considered the most historic in independent India's history. It liberalized the Indian economy, ending the licence-permit-quota system, and opened Indian companies to foreign competition, setting the country on a high growth path.

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Manmohan Singh

- The 1997-98 budget, presented by P. Chidambaram, is remembered as the 'Dream Budget' for lowering personal income tax rates. These rates have remained largely unchanged since then.

- In 2001, Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha shifted the budget announcement time from 5:00 pm to 11:00 am, breaking a long-standing colonial tradition.

- Until 2016, the budget was always presented on the last working day of February.

- In 2019, Nirmala Sitharaman replaced the traditional budget briefcase with a 'Bahi Khata' (ledger book), changing the visual presentation of the budget.

- In 2020, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman delivered the longest budget speech in India's history, lasting two hours and 42 minutes. Despite its length, it fell short of Manmohan Singh's word count record. She is also India's first full-time female finance minister.

- The move towards a paperless budget in 2021 marked a significant technological shift, modernizing the budget presentation process.

- An annual 'halwa ceremony' takes place approximately one week prior to the finance minister presenting the budget. At the place where the Budget is printed, a "halwa" is made and then served.

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Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during the Halwa ceremony

- All of the officials working on publishing the budget remain confined to the finance ministry's premises until it is submitted, and they are not allowed to use any kind of communication device or leave the building.