The customary Halwa ceremony, marking the final stage of the preparation process for the Union Budget 2025-26, is scheduled to take place at North Block on Friday evening. This marks a significant ritual in the annual budget preparation process, which precedes the formal “lock-in” phase, when all budget documents are printed and secured.
As per tradition, the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will lead the ceremony, accompanied by Minister of State Pankaj Chaudhary and senior officials, including key secretaries and staff involved in the budget preparation. The event serves to recognize the tireless efforts of the finance ministry officials who have worked diligently to put together the budget.
The Halwa ceremony is not just a symbolic occasion but a key moment in the budget process. During the ceremony, a large ‘kadhai’ is used to prepare halwa, a traditional Indian sweet dish. The Finance Minister ceremoniously stirs the halwa in the kadhai, and typically serves the dessert to all those involved in the preparation and compilation of the budget.
This tradition, which has been a staple of India’s budget process, serves as a token of appreciation for the long hours and hard work put in by the finance ministry’s officers and staff. The ceremony marks the transition to the ‘lock-in’ phase, during which all the budget documents are finalized and printed. The lock-in period ensures that no last-minute changes or leaks occur before the budget is presented in Parliament.
Once the Halwa ceremony is conducted, the finance ministry enters a strict lockdown phase, during which no official associated with the budget preparation is allowed to leave the North Block premises. This restriction ensures the confidentiality and security of the budget documents until they are officially presented in Parliament.
The printing of the Union Budget has been carried out in the basement of North Block since 1980, and it has become a key feature of the budget-making process. The basement is equipped with high-level security measures to ensure that the documents are safeguarded until the official presentation.
The Budget session of Parliament will begin on January 31 and continue until April 4. The Union Budget 2025 will be presented on February 1, a date that has become synonymous with the government’s fiscal roadmap for the coming year. President Droupadi Murmu will deliver her address to the joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament on January 31, setting the tone for the session.
Parliament will take a break for inter-session from February 14, and both Houses will resume their sittings on March 10. This break is a customary feature of the Budget session, allowing MPs to focus on other legislative work and constituency duties.
This year’s Budget presentation will be especially noteworthy as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will be presenting her seventh budget. With this, she will surpass the record set by Morarji Desai, the former Prime Minister of India, who had presented five annual budgets and one interim budget during his tenure as Finance Minister from 1959 to 1964.
For the Budget 2025, like its recent predecessors, it will be delivered in a paperless form, in line with the government’s push towards digitalization and environmental sustainability. The move has been well-received, especially given the growing importance of reducing the carbon footprint of large-scale governmental operations.
All eyes will be on the key announcements in the upcoming budget, with particular focus on the government’s economic guidance for the remainder of the Modi 3.0 tenure. Analysts and businesses are particularly keen to hear how the government plans to address pressing economic challenges, including weak GDP growth, low consumption, and global inflationary pressures.
The Indian economy, which had grown at an impressive rate of 8.2% during 2023-24, has faced some setbacks in the current fiscal year. For the July-September quarter of 2024-25, India’s GDP growth slowed down to 5.4%, falling short of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) forecast of 7%. This weaker-than-expected growth has raised concerns about the sustainability of the recovery.
In the April-June quarter, India’s GDP had also grown at a slower pace than the RBI’s forecast. As a result, the RBIrecently revised its growth forecast for 2024-25 down to 6.6%, from an earlier estimate of 7.2%.
Earlier this year, the Economic Survey presented in Parliament projected India’s real GDP growth for 2024-25 to be in the range of 6.5-7%, although it acknowledged that market expectations might be higher. The real GDP growth refers to the country’s economic growth adjusted for inflation, and this estimate suggests that the economy is expected to slow compared to last year’s robust growth.
India’s economic performance in the last two fiscal years has been relatively strong, with the country posting a growth rate of 7.2% in 2022-23 and 8.7% in 2021-22. This performance made India the fastest-growing major economyglobally, even amidst the challenges posed by the pandemic and the subsequent global supply chain disruptions.
Given the backdrop of weak GDP numbers and soft consumption in the economy, the upcoming Union Budget 2025 is expected to provide much-needed guidance on how the government plans to bolster economic growth, stimulate demand, and address the broader fiscal challenges.
The Union Budget will also likely focus on infrastructure development, job creation, and sustainable growth in sectors like renewable energy and technology, particularly given the growing importance of artificial intelligence (AI) and digital transformation for India’s future growth trajectory.
The budget is expected to play a key role in setting the tone for economic reforms over the next few years and will be watched closely by domestic and international investors alike. As India moves forward with its ambitious growth targets, the 2025 budget will likely include measures to ensure that the country continues to outperform its global peers in terms of growth.
