FM Nirmala Sitharaman, the first full-time woman finance minister of India has all eyes on her as she is about to break record held by former FM Morarji Desai. As she presents the General Budget 2024-25 in Parliament next month, which will be her seventh consecutive budget, she will surpass the record of Morarji Desai who presented the budget six consecutive times.
As the budget announced in February 2024 was an interim budget, Sitharaman would be presenting this year's general budget in the second half of July.
February 2024 budget was interim budget as the there were general elections in the middle of the year. The interim budget is introduced when the government is in its transition phase or its last year in office ahead of general elections.
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Sitharaman became the union finance minister in 2019 in the second Modi government, becoming the first woman to hold the portfolio after Indira Gandhi. Earlier this month, Sitharaman took oath as the FM for the second time after the BJP formed a coalition government at the Centre.
Indira Gandhi, held the FM position briefly for a year in 1970-71 and hence, Sitharaman became the first woman to complete the five-year term. Sitharaman became the first FM to present the digital budget in 2021 as she read out the budget from a tablet.
As India got its new parliament in 2023, she became the first FM to present the budget in the new abode of the largest democracy. The budget introduced by her was an interim budget. The budget that she will present in the month of July will be a general budget.
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Adding to her list of firsts, in 2020 she delivered the longest budget speech in the history of India, lasting 2 hours 42 minutes long. She surpassed her previous record for the longest budget speech.
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