Union Budget 2026: From Morarji Desai to Nirmala Sitharaman- India’s Most Frequent Budget Presenters

In 2026, India's first full-time female Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, is set to create another historic record by presenting her ninth consecutive Union Budget on February 1, bringing her closer to former Prime Minister Morarji Desai, who presented 10 Budgets over different time periods.
While we eagerly await the Budget this Sunday, let us take a look at the finance ministers who have presented the most Union Budgets.

Morarji Desai

Former Prime Minister Morarji Desai holds the record for presenting the most Union Budgets. He presented 10 budgets during his term as finance minister of India from 1958 to 1963 and again from 1967 to 1969. His maiden budget was presented on February 28, 1959, followed by full Budgets for the next two years. He presented an interim Budget in 1962, followed by two full Budgets. After four years, he presented another interim Budget in 1967, followed by three full Budgets in 1967, 1968, and 1969.
During his term, Morarji Desai also introduced the new concept of "Black Budget" in 1970 to manage the fiscal deficit. His Budgets mostly focused on fiscal discipline, inflation, economic liberalisation, and tax reforms.

Nirmala Sitharaman

The current finance minister of India is set to present her ninth Union Budget on February 1. On July 23, 2024, she surpassed Morarji Desai's record of presenting the Budget six times consecutively. In earlier budgets, Ms Sitharaman has focused on direct tax reforms, developmental projects, digital economy, manufacturing incentives, and Atmanirbhar Bharat.

P Chidambaram

Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram has presented the Union Budget nine times. He presented his maiden budget on March 19, 1996, during the United Front government led by Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda. He presented another Budget under the same government the next year. His "Dream Budget" in 1997 was one of the most historic budgets in India, which focused on bringing tax rates down and simplifying the tax regime. Moreover, his budgets also focused on liberalisation, disinvestment, and fiscal consolidation.

He presented five Budgets between 2004 and 2008. After serving the role of Union Home Minister, he was back in the Finance Ministry and presented the Budgets in 2013 and 2014.

Pranab Mukherjee

Pranab Mukherjee presented eight Budgets during his tenure as Finance Minister. He presented Budgets in 1982, 1983, and 1984, and five consecutive budgets from February 2009 to March 2012 in the Congress-led UPA government. He mainly focused on India's banking reforms, disinvestment plans, infrastructure development, and direct tax policies. One of his most notable reforms was the introduction of the Direct Tax Code and Goods and Services Tax (GST) framework.

Yashwant Sinha

During his role as finance minister under the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, Yashwant Sinha presented eight Union Budgets. He introduced the Value Added Tax (VAT) system to the Indian economy, and mainly focused on banking reforms, privatisation, and the telecom sector.

Manmohan Singh

The former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh presented five straight Budgets between 1991 and 1995 during her term under the P.V. Narasimha Rao government.