How long was Nirmala Sitharaman's Budget 2024 speech and how does it compare to others?

Creating history, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday presented her seventh consecutive Union Budget for 2024-25 in the Parliament.

Delivering her second shortest speech, which lasted for about an hour and 24 minutes, the finance minister presented the first Union Budget for PM Narendra Modi-led government which was re-elected for a third consecutive term.

Sitharaman’s address focused on key areas such as support for the poor, women, youth, and farmers. She unveiled plans to boost spending, generate employment, and offer relief to the middle class, along with significant changes to the taxation system.

By presenting seven consecutive budgets, Sitharaman also has surpassed the record set by former Prime Minister Morarji Desai, who delivered six consecutive budgets during his tenure as Finance Minister under Congress governments.

Here’s a comprehensive look at the duration of FM Sitharaman’s budget speeches and how they have fared with others

Longest speeches

Nirmala Sitharaman

The year 2019 was a landmark in India’s economic history as Nirmala Sitharaman became the first full-time woman finance minister to present the budget. She followed in the footsteps of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who had presented the budget in 1971 while holding the finance portfolio.

Sitharaman’s inaugural speech focused on a 10-point vision for the decade and support for MSMEs and start-ups, lasting two hours and 17 minutes.

A year later, she delivered her longest budget speech ever, beginning at 11 am and continuing for nearly three hours, concluding around 1:40 pm. In fact, she had to cut her speech short. With just two pages remaining, Sitharaman, who had spoken for 160 minutes in Lok Sabha, started feeling unwell and appeared uneasy and wiping sweat from her forehead, PTI reported.

Other than being one of the longest budget presentations, the 2020 budget was notable for being the country’s first paperless budget speech. Key announcements included new income tax slabs and the LIC IPO.

In subsequent years, Sitharaman’s budget speeches varied in length: 1 hour 50 minutes in 2021, 1 hour 32 minutes in 2022, and 1 hour 27 minutes in 2023.

In terms of word count, her first speech contained 10,965 words, followed by 13,349 words in 2020, 10,594 words in 2021, 9,064 words in 2022, 8,167 words in 2023, and 5,271 words in 2024.

If Sitharaman continues as finance minister until at least March 2028, she will set a record for presenting the budget 11 times, cementing her place in India’s financial history.

Jaswant Singh

During the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led government, Union Finance Minister Jaswant Singh delivered one of the longest budget speeches in 2003, which lasted two hours and 13 minutes.

In his address, Singh proposed several measures, including the introduction of universal health insurance to broaden healthcare access for all citizens. He also announced the implementation of e-filing for income tax returns. Additionally, he proposed reductions in excise and customs duties on select items to stimulate economic activity and reduce costs for consumers and businesses.

Singh’s 2003 budget was part of a broader strategy to liberalise the Indian economy, aiming to foster growth and improve the nation’s fiscal health.

Arun Jaitley

Presenting the first budget for the NDA government after nearly a decade, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley delivered his longest budget speech in 2014, lasting two hours and 10 minutes.

Jaitley announced significant measures, including increasing the tax exemption slab from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 2.5 lakh, raising foreign direct investment (FDI) in defence to 49 per cent, and planning the establishment of additional All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in the coming years.

This budget speech was also Jaitley’s second-longest in terms of paragraph count, averaging 185 paragraphs.

His fifth consecutive budget speech in 2018 lasted about 109 minutes, while his 2017 speech was delivered in 110 minutes. His second budget speech in 2015 extended beyond two hours.

Other FMs

Among the finance ministers known for their lengthy budget speeches, Yashwant Sinha leads with an average of 170 paragraphs. He is followed by Manmohan Singh with 133 paragraphs, R. Venkataraman with 132, Haribhai M. Patel with 117, Yashwantrao B. Chavan with 88, T. T. Krishnamachari with 78, and Morarji R. Desai with 77 paragraphs.

Shortest speeches

Nirmala Sitharaman

Besides delivering some of the longest budget speeches, FM Nirmala Sitharaman also holds the record for the shortest speech. During the Interim Budget of 2024, she spoke for only around 60 minutes. This was her final budget presentation before the Lok Sabha elections, underscoring the government’s key priorities without extensive elaboration.

Hirubhai M. Patel

In 1977, Hirubhai Mulljibhai Patel, serving as Finance Minister under Morarji Desai’s cabinet, delivered a brief interim budget speech of just 800 words. Patel’s succinct address was due to the necessity of fulfilling constitutional requirements with a Vote on Account, as the detailed budget calculations had been prepared by the previous government.

With limited time until the 31 March deadline, Patel delivered a speech that remains one of the shortest in Indian budget history.

With input from agencies