Budget 2024-25: The budget session of Parliament is starting from 22 July. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget on 23 July. People's eyes will be on the speech of the Finance Minister. Nirmala Sitharaman is known for her long budget speeches. This time after presenting the budget, a unique record will be registered in the name of the Finance Minister. He will become the first Finance Minister of the country to present the Union Budget 7 times in a row. Apart from Sitharaman, the record of presenting the budget six times is in the name of former Prime Minister Morarji Desai.
The Finance Minister will present the budget in the Lok Sabha on July 23 at 11 am
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the budget in the Lok Sabha on July 23 at 11 am. With this her budget speech will begin. The time spent on her budget speeches has changed over the years. It ranges from 90 minutes to 120 minutes. However, she holds the record for giving the longest budget speech. Her speech in 2020 is the longest speech ever. It lasted for 2 hours and 40 minutes.
The interim budget speech on February 1 this year was only 56 minutes long
Interestingly, even after giving a speech for 160 minutes, it could not be completed. The Finance Minister could not read the last two pages. On February 1 this year, the Finance Minister presented the interim budget. This was her sixth consecutive Union Budget. Then her budget speech lasted for 56 minutes. In 2019, her budget speech was 2 hours 17 minutes. In 2021, her budget speech was one hour 50 minutes. In 2022, it was 92 minutes. Last year i.e. in 2023, Nirmala Sitharaman's budget speech was 87 minutes long.
Manmohan Singh holds the record for the longest budget speech in terms of words
It is worth noting that the record for the longest budget speech in terms of words is held by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. It was 18,650 words long. The record for the shortest budget speech is held by HM Patel. It was an interim budget, which Patel presented in 1977. This budget speech was of just 800 words. Experts say that the budget speech of the Finance Minister is prepared very meticulously. It includes matters that highlight the focus areas of the government's budget.