Union Budget: 12 trivia everyone should know

While Finance Ministry is gearing up to present the Budget for the next fiscal on February 1, here we list some important facts about the Union Budget that you should know.

India's first-ever Budget was presented in pre-Independent India on April 7, 1860. The budget was announced by James Wilson of the East India Company to the British Crown. Credit: Reuters Photo

RK Shanmukham Chetty presented first Union Budget post Independence on November 26, 1947. Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Morarji Desai, who served as the 4th Prime Minister of India between 1977 to 1979, has presented 10 union budgets - the highest by one person. Credit: DH Pool Photo

Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi are the only Indian prime ministers to have presented a Budget. Credit: AFP Photo

Manmohan Singh holds the record of the 'longest Budget Speech' in terms of word count. It was delivered by him in 1991. Credit: SK Dinesh/DH Photo

Until 1999, the Union Budget was announced at 05:00 pm on the last working day of February. However, this was modified by former finance minister Yashwant Sinha to 11:00 am. Credit: PTI Photo

Ending the 92-year-old tradition of having a separate Railway Budget, the Union Cabinet decided to merge the Railway Budget with the General Budget in 2016. The Railway budget was merged with the Union Budget for the first time in 2017 by then Finance Minister of India, Arun Jaitley. Credit: PTI Photo

The date of the Union Budget presentation was changed in 2017 by then finance minister Arun Jaitley from 'last working day of February' to 'February 1'. Credit: PTI Photo

The record for 'longest Budget Speech' in terms of duration is with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. She took 2 hours and 42 minutes to present the Union Budget in 2020. Credit: PTI Photo

The 'Halwa Ceremony' is a customary pre-Budget event that formally flags off the printing of different documents associated with the Budget. Credit: PTI Photo

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the first paperless Budget on February 1, 2021. Credit: PTI Photo

A government printing press was set up in North Block's basement in 1980 for printing the budget. Credit: PTI Photo