This was Nirmala Sitharaman’s shortest Budget speech: How long did she speak for?

Shanmukham Chetty, India’s finance minister at the time, unveiled the nation’s first budget in November 1947. His replacements have delivered budget speeches in a variety of lengths and styles over the years. Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman delivered her shortest Budget speech ever on Thursday as she presented the interim Budget ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. With her sixth straight speech, Sitharaman equalled the record of former Prime Minister Moraji Desai . Here’s a look at her longest and shortest Budget addresses in the Parliament. Sitharaman’s shortest Budget speeches On 1 February 2024, the interim Budget speech by Nirmala Sitharaman started at 11 am and ended much before an hour had passed. The speech was the shortest, according to her record, lasting precisely 58 minutes. The government is hoping to present a full budget in July, confident in its election victory, thus the budget address was kept brief. “In full budget in July, our government will present a detailed roadmap for our pursuit of Viksit Bharat,” Sitharaman said. [caption id=“attachment_13678582” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Graphic: Network18[/caption] Out of the six budgets she presented, her shortest speech until now lasted 87 minutes in 2023. The Budget focused on widening the scope of economic growth, boosting key areas like infrastructure and manufacturing and job creation. The 2022 Budget address by Sitharaman lasted for 100 minutes, wherein she introduced the “PM Atmanirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana and an “agriculture infrastructure and development” cess (AIDC) on a small number of items. In 2021, the Finance Minister delivered a Budget speech of over 91 minutes. Creation of jobs, a push for digital education, focus on mental health wellbeing and preparations for new-age technologies such as blockchain and 5G services were among the highlights of the Budget that year. Hirubhai Mulljibhai Patel’s 1977 Union Budget address holds the record for the shortest budget speech, coming in at 800 words. Her longest speeches With her 2.42-hour speech in 2020, Sitharaman also holds the record for the longest budget speech in the nation. The Finance Minister had to cut short her speech, which took up 160 minutes and skipped over the final two pages. The Budget contained two significant announcements: the LIC IPO and new income tax rates. [caption id=“attachment_13674212” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] In 2019, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman chose ‘Bahi Khata’ to carry the Budget papers and in 2020 she switched it with a tablet. File image/PTI[/caption] The first full-time woman finance minister of India presented her first budget in 2019. Among the main announcements were a 10-point plan for the coming decade, advantages for MSMEs and new businesses, and the launching of income tax return pre-filing. That year, Sitharaman spoke for two hours and 17 minutes. Manmohan Singh holds the record for the longest budget in terms of words. His 1991 address was 18,650 words long. Other longest speeches in history The 2003 Budget address by Jaswant Singh lasted for two hours and 13 minutes. During his speech, he announced e-filing of income tax returns, suggested universal health insurance, and lowered excise and customs duties on specific goods. In the 2014 Union Budget, Arun Jaitley raised the tax exemption threshold from two lakh rupees to 2.5 lakh rupees, direct investment (FDI) in defence to 49 per cent, and announced the establishment of more All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in the upcoming years. The then-Finance Minister’s Budget speech lasted for two hours and 10 minutes. With inputs from agencies