New Delhi, Feb. 1 -- Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to deliver her record ninth consecutive Budget speech today, 1 February 2026. This will be for the first time in recent history that the Union Budget will be presented on a Sunday.

Since coming to power in 2014, the Narendra Modi-led government has introduced several symbolic and structural changes to the presentation of India's Union Budget, reflecting a broader push towards modernization, transparency, and administrative efficiency.

While the way the Budget is prepared and presented has evolved significantly over the past decade, its core purpose - outlining the government's fiscal strategy - remains unchanged.

One of the earliest reforms came in 2017, when the governmen...