 "The Budget Session of Parliament will commence on January 28 and continue until April 2.")
The Union Budget will be presented at 11am on Sunday, February 1, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla confirmed on Monday, marking a rare departure from parliamentary convention. The announcement was made during a media briefing ahead of the Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth (CSPOC), which India is set to host later this month.
“This will be the first instance in recent memory of a budget being presented on a Sunday,” Birla said, underlining that elected representatives are expected to work without interruption. “The Union budget will be presented at 11am on Sunday, February 1. Elected representatives are public servants and they are expected to work on all days without taking a break,” he added.
Parliament does not usually sit on Saturdays and Sundays, except on special occasions.
Budget date shifted under PM Modi government
In 1999, the budget presentation was advanced by a day, as February 28 fell on a Sunday. The long-standing convention of presenting the budget on February 28 was later changed to February 1 by the Narendra Modi government.
Providing details of the CSPOC conference scheduled for January 15-16, Birla said discussions would focus on “shared parliamentary values, democratic governance and institutional cooperation”. The agenda will also include deliberations on the role of artificial intelligence in Parliament and the impact of social media on parliamentarians.
Prime Minister Modi will inaugurate the conference on January 15.
Birla said 42 of the 53 Commonwealth countries had confirmed their participation. Pakistan and Bangladesh are among those not attending. While Bangladesh currently does not have a Speaker, Birla declined to comment on Pakistan’s absence.
“Participation will be high this time, but some countries will be unable to attend for various reasons, primarily because their parliaments will be in session,” he said. “CSPOC 2026, being hosted by India, will be historic in terms of participation; from 67 member parliaments, 61 presiding officers are participating,” he added.