The customary Halwa ceremony, which marks the final stage of the budget preparation process for the full Budget of 2025-26, is set to take place in Central Secretariat’s North Block on Friday evening.
The customary Halwa ceremony, which marks the final stage of the budget preparation process for the full Budget of 2025-26, is set to take place in Central Secretariat’s North Block on Friday evening. As is the convention, the ceremony will be led by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, with Minister of State Pankaj Chaudhary, and secretaries, in attendance. Officers and staff involved in the budget preparation and compilation process will also be present on the occasion.
Every year, a traditional Halwa ceremony is held before the “lock-in” process of the budget preparation commences. During this ceremony, the popular Indian sweet dish, Halwa, is prepared in a large ‘kadhai’ at the North Block.
The Finance Minister traditionally stirs the ‘kadhai’ and serves the halwa to everyone involved in the budget-making process. This ceremony is a gesture of appreciation for the hard work of the finance ministry officials. It also marks the beginning of the process to print all the budget documents ahead of their presentation in Parliament.
The halwa ceremony is a significant event as it also marks the beginning of lockdown at the finance ministry. This means no official is allowed to leave the ministry compound. Everyone part of the Budget team is allowed to leave only after the financial document is presented in Parliament. The printing of the Union Budget inside the basement located at the North Block has become a permanent feature since 1980. The budget session of parliament will commence on January 31, 2025. As per the schedule, it will end on April 4. The budget will be presented on February 1, 2025.
Like the previous few full Union Budgets, the Budget 2025 will also be delivered in paperless form.
All eyes will be on the key announcements and the government’s forward-looking economic guidance for the remainder of the Modi 3.0 tenure. This upcoming budget comes in the backdrop of weak GDP numbers and weak consumption in the economy.
The Indian economy grew by 5.4 per cent in real terms in the July-September quarter of the current financial year 2024-25. The quarterly growth was quite lower than RBI’s forecast of 7 per cent. In the April-June quarter too, India’s GDP grew at a slower pace than was estimated by its central bank.
The Reserve Bank in its latest monetary policy had cut India’s growth forecast for 2024-25 to 6.6 per cent from 7.2 per cent. The Economic Survey tabled in Parliament earlier this year “conservatively” projected India’s real GDP growth at 6.5-7 per cent for 2024-25, acknowledging that market expectations are higher. Real GDP growth is the reported economic growth adjusted for inflation. India’s GDP grew by an impressive 8.2 per cent during the financial year 2023-24, and continued to be the fastest-growing major economy. The economy grew by 7.2 per cent in 2022-23 and 8.7 per cent in 2021-22.
