The Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday approved the Union Budget 2026-27, FM Nirmala Sitharaman meets President ahead of Budget speech
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NEW DELHI — The Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday approved the Union Budget 2026-27.
Following the approval, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present her ninth record Budget in the Lok Sabha that comes in the backdrop of global uncertainties and slowdown in exports.
This is the third Budget of the BJP-led NDA government in its third term in office.
Sitharaman had in her first Budget in 2019 replaced the leather briefcase -- which was in use for decades for carrying Budget documents -- with a traditional 'bahi-khata' wrapped in red cloth. This year's Budget would also be in paperless form.
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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman meets President ahead of Budget speech
Ahead of presenting her ninth consecutive Budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday called on President Droupadi Murmu.
As per established tradition, the finance minister met the President at the Rashtrapati Bhavan before heading to Parliament.
Sitharaman posed with her Budget team in front of her office at Kartavya Bhavan. Wearing a magenta-coloured Tamil Nadu's Kanchivaram saree, she was holding a tablet in a red pouch with the national emblem, along with the Minister of State and all six secretaries in her ministry.
"Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Smt Nirmala Sitharaman, along with Minister of State for Finance Shri Pankaj Chaudhary and senior officials of the Ministry of Finance, called on President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan before presenting the Union Budget. The President extended her best wishes to the Union Finance Minister and her team for the presentation of Budget," President of India office said in a post on X.
President Murmu offered 'dahi-chini' (curd-sugar), considered auspicious, to Sitharaman before she left for Parliament to present the Union Budget.
Following the meeting, she headed for a Cabinet meeting that will formally approve the Budget for 2026-27.
Sitharaman continues with the tradition she set in 2019, carrying the budget speech in a 'bahi-khata', which she used after dropping the briefcase tradition.
The Finance Minister will present her ninth straight Budget, which is expected to unveil measures to sustain growth momentum, maintain fiscal discipline, and announce reforms that could buffer the economy from global trade frictions, including US tariffs.
The FY27 Budget comes against a complex backdrop. While domestic demand has held up and inflation has moderated from recent highs, global uncertainties – including geopolitical tensions, volatile commodity prices and uneven monetary easing by major central banks – continue to cloud the outlook. At home, the government faces pressure to boost consumption, accelerate job creation and step up capital spending, while keeping the fiscal deficit on a downward path.