Longest Union Budget speeches in India's history

As we anticipate what’s in store for this year’s budget, let us look at the longest budgets tabled in the parliament.

With the tabling of the Union Budget for the financial year 2024-25 nearing, all eyes are on Nirmala Sitharaman who will present it in Parliament on February 1st.

As we count down to the date, take a look at the longest budget speeches ever delivered.

Nirmala Sitharaman

The longest budget speech to be ever presented was by the current Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who has presented the budget five times thus far.

The 2020 Union Budget presented by Sitharaman is the longest budget speech in India's history. Her second Budget speech after acquiring the post, presented on February 1, 2020, started at 11 am and went on till 1:40 pm, a total of 2 hours and 42 minutes.

The speech was so lengthy that towards the end of her speech, with two pages left, the Finance Minister felt unwell, and the rest of the speech was given by Om Birla, the Lok Sabha Speaker.

With this speech, Nirmala Sitharaman broke her 2019 record of having delivered the longest budget speech in India. That year, Sitharaman delivered a Union Budget speech that went on for 2 hours and 17 minutes, making it the second-longest.

Jaswant Singh

Before this, the longest Budget speech by any Indian Finance Minister was by Former Finance Minister Jaswant Singh who delivered one of the longest budget speeches way back in 2003. Singh's speech lasted 2 hours and 13 minutes, making it the third longest budget speech ever.

Arun Jaitley

The next longest budget speech was delivered by Arun Jaitley when he was the Finance Minister in 2014, when he spoke for 2 hours and 10 minutes.

It remains to be seen whether Nirmala Sitharaman breaks another record this year, with the Modi govt seeking a third term in office.