New Delhi, Jan 27 (.) The Halwa ceremony, marking the final stage of the Budget preparation process for union Budget 2026-27, was held in the Budget Press at North Block today, when union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and her deputy, Pankaj Chaudhary were present.
The ceremony is a customary ritual in which traditional dessert ‘halwa’ is prepared and served to officials and staff members of the Finance ministry who are involved in the preparation of the budget. The ceremony took place at the North Block on Raisina Hill, the old address of the Finance Ministry, as the new premises at the Kartyava Bhawan-I do not have a printing press.
The ‘Halwa ceremony’ precedes the ‘lock-in’ of the officials involved in the preparation of the union Budget. The union Budget 2026-27 will be presented on Sunday, February 1.
All Finance ministry officials and staff involved in the preparation of the union government’s annual financial statement enter what is called a ‘lock-in’ period, during which they stay in the basement of North Block, cut off from the world outside to maintain the secrecy of the final budget document. They emerge only after the Finance Minister completes her Budget speech in the Lok Sabha.
At the Halwa ceremony, Minister Sitharaman was accompanied by the Secretaries of all the Departments under the Ministry of Finance and other senior officers involved in Budget preparation. As part of the ceremony, the Minister also took a tour of the Budget Press and reviewed the preparations, besides extending her best wishes to the entire budget team.
All union Budget documents, including the Annual Financial Statement (commonly known as Budget), Demand for Grants (DG), Finance Bill will also be available on the “Union Budget Mobile App” for hassle-free access of Budget documents by Members of Parliament (MPs) and the general public in a digital accessible mode. The App is bilingual (English & Hindi) and will be available on both Android and iOS platforms.
The App can also be downloaded from the union Budget Web Portal (www.indiabudget.gov.in).
The Budget documents will be available on the Mobile App and the website after the completion of the Budget Speech by the union Finance Minister in Parliament on Sunday.
. RS .