Parliament's Budget Session to Commence on January 31, Budget on February 1

Agartala, Jan 19, 2025, By Our Correspondent67

The Parliament's Budget Session is scheduled to take place from January 31 to April 4, divided into two parts. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to present the Budget for the eighth consecutive time on February 1.

According to the provisional calendar released by the Lok Sabha Secretariat, the session will commence with President Droupadi Murmu's address to a joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament—Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha—on January 31. This will be followed by the tabling of the Economic Survey.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju announced on X: "The Hon'ble President of India Smt Droupadi Murmu ji, on the recommendation of the Government of India, has approved summoning both Houses of Parliament for the Budget Session 2025 from January 31, 2025, to April 4, 2025 (subject to exigencies of parliamentary business)." He further mentioned that President Murmu will address the joint sitting of both Houses on January 31 at 11 a.m. in the Lok Sabha Chamber.

Rijiju also stated, "Union Budget 2025-26 to be presented on February 1, 2025, in the Lok Sabha. Both Houses may adjourn for a recess on February 13, 2025, to reconvene on March 10, 2025, to examine and report on the Demands for Grants of various Ministries/Departments."

The first part of the Budget Session will consist of nine sittings from January 31 to February 13. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will respond to the Motion of Thanks on the President's address, while Finance Minister Sitharaman will reply to the discussion on the Budget.

Following a break to scrutinize the Budget proposals, the Parliament session will resume on March 10, during which discussions on demands for grants of various ministries will be held. The entire Budget Session will comprise 27 sittings and will conclude on April 4.

In July last year, weeks after the formation of the new government at the Centre, FM Sitharaman presented her seventh Budget, breaking the late Morarji Desai's record of presenting six consecutive Budgets. Sitharaman, a key ministerial figure in the Union Cabinet, had previously served as a junior minister in PM Modi's government between 2014 and 2017. She has held the positions of Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Corporate Affairs from May to November 2014, and Minister of State (Independent Charge) for the Ministry of Commerce and Industry from May 2014 to September 2017. She was later elevated to senior posts in the Union Cabinet.

Sitharaman served as the Defence Minister in the first PM Modi-led Cabinet during the Balakot surgical strikes of 2019. She assumed the role of Finance Minister in 2019 in the Modi 2.0 Cabinet and has held the position since then.