Union Budget 2025: FM Nirmala Sitharaman delivers her second-shortest Budget speech till date

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1 presented her eighth consecutive Budget with a speech lasting 74 minutes, which ran into around 7,900 words.

Dressed in an off-white coloured handloom silk saree with fish-themed embroidery and a golden border -- a tribute to Madhubani Art, Sitharaman delivered her speech. Her remarks on no income tax up to income of Rs 12 lakh received the loudest cheer.

Earlier, as soon as the House convened and Speaker Om Birla called Sitharaman for presenting the Budget, Opposition MPs walked out of Lok Sabha demanding a discussion on the stampede in Maha Kumbh.

Sitharaman also holds the distinction of delivering the longest budget speech at two hours and forty minutes in 2020.

In 2019, Sitharaman's budget speech had lasted for two hours and 17 minutes. In 2021, her speech lasted for one hour and 50 minutes, followed by 92 minutes in 2022 and 87 minutes in 2023.

Sitharaman's budget speech found mention of Gurajada Apparao, whose famous line “Desamante matti kaadoyi, Desamante manushuloyi” (A country is not just land, but its people) was referenced by Finance Minister.

Gurajada Apparao was an eminent writer and a pioneer of colloquial Telugu literature during the pre-independence era.

In her budget speech, Sitharaman said gig workers will be provided healthcare facilities under the PM Jan Aarogya Yojana (PM-JAY).

In the next year, 10,000 additional seats will be added in medical colleges and hospitals towards the goal of adding 75,000 seats in the next five years. The government will facilitate setting up of daycare cancer centres in all district hospitals in the next three years, she said.

The government will also provide Rs 20,000 crore for promoting innovation in partnership with the private sector. Sitharaman further said the Centre will set up a national framework for promoting global capability centres in emerging Tier-II cities.

(With inputs from PTI)