Constitutional text

(1) The President shall in respect of every financial year cause to be laid before both the Houses of Parliament a statement of the estimated receipts and expenditure of the Government of India for that year, in this Part referred to as the 'annual financial statement'.

Source: Constitution of India, as published by the Ministry of Law and Justice.

History and context

The annual financial statement is one of Parliament's central functions. The tradition of presenting the Union Budget at 5 PM on the last day of February was changed by the Modi government to 1 February from 2017 onward, to allow budget provisions to take effect from the start of the financial year. The Budget is the single most important annual exercise in economic governance; the Finance Minister's speech sets the government's fiscal priorities for the year.

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Last reviewed: 3 July 2026