New Delhi: The Central Government has finalized the program for the budget session 2026. This time the budget session of Parliament will start from 28 January and continue till 2 April. The special thing is that the Union Budget will be presented on 1st February, which this time will fall on a Sunday. President Draupadi Murmu has approved this program of the budget session.

Budget session will start from January 28

The first session of the year of Parliament will begin on January 28. On this day, President Draupadi Murmu will address the joint meeting of both the houses of Parliament. This is a constitutional and traditional process, in which the government presents the outline of its policies and priorities. The budget session is considered to formally begin with the President’s address.

Economic survey will be presented on January 29

The Economic Survey will be presented on January 29, just a day before the budget. In this, detailed details of the country’s economic condition, growth rate, inflation, employment and performance of various sectors are given. However, due to the Beating Retreat ceremony, both the Houses of Parliament will not meet on January 29, but the Economic Survey can be made public on the same day.

Budget will come on Sunday, February 1

This time the Union Budget will be presented on 1st February, which is Sunday. Normally, Parliament proceedings do not take place on weekends, but considering the constitutional importance of the budget, a decision has been taken to deviate from this tradition. After the presentation of the budget, there will be a discussion in Parliament regarding the President’s address and the motion of thanks on the budget.

The first phase will run till 13 February

The first phase of the budget session will end on 13 February. After this, Parliament will be sent on leave for about a month. During this period, various parliamentary committees will study the budget proposals and prepare their reports.

Second phase will start from March 9

The second phase of Parliament will start from March 9 and will continue till April 2. Usually the Parliament session ends on Friday, but this time due to Good Friday on 3rd April and the weekend thereafter, the session will end on 2nd April only.

Why is Budget 2026 special?

Budget 2026 is being considered special in many ways. For the first time the budget will be presented on Sunday. Apart from this, another important thing is that this time there is no Finance Secretary in the Finance Ministry, whereas generally the role of Finance Secretary is considered very important in the budget process.

Budget preparation in the absence of Finance Secretary

The Finance Secretary is considered the most senior officer of the Finance Ministry. Coordination of the entire budget process, coordination between various departments and monitoring of policy decisions are their responsibility. Despite this, the government claims that the preparations for the budget are being done on time and with full seriousness. In such a situation, Budget 2026 is being considered special not only from the economic policies point of view but also from the administrative point of view.