Nirmala Sitharaman's shortest budget speech of 58 minutes: Here are the records
Nirmala Sitharaman spoke for 58 minutes as she presented interim budget 2024 in Parliament.
Nirmala Sitharaman delivered her shortest budget speech ever on February 1, 2024 as she presented the interim Budget of the government. The speech began at 11am and was over even before an hour. The speech lasted for exactly 58 minutes, the shortest by her record. Until now, Nirmala Sitharaman's shortest speech among the six budgets she presented was in 2023 when she spoke for 87 minutes.
| Year | Duration |
| 2019 | 2 hours 17 minutes (137 minutes) |
| 2020 | 2 hours 40 minutes (160 minutes) |
| 2021 | 1 hour 50 minutes (110 minutes) |
| 2022 | 1 hour 33 minutes (93 minutes) |
| 2023 | 1 hour 27 minutes (87 minutes) |
| 2024 | 58 minutes |
Shortest, longest and lengthiest budget records
Nirmala Sitharaman holds the record for the longest Budget speech in India for her 2.40-hour speech in 2020.
The shortest Budget speech record is held by Hirubhai Mulljibhai Patel who presented the Union Budget in 1977. His Budget speech contained 800 words.
The record for the lengthiest Budget going by the word count is held by Manmohan Singh. In 1991, his Budget speech contained 18,650 words.
Read: No changes in income tax rates, slabs, announces Nirmala Sitharaman
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said Nirmala Sitharaman's Budget speech this year was one of the shortest speeches on record.
Viksit Bharat by 2047
The budget speech was kept short as the government is eyeing to present a full budget in July, confident of winning the election. "In full budget in July, our government will present a detailed roadmap for our pursuit of Viksit Bharat," Nirmala Sitharaman said.
Viksit Bharat by 2047 has been one of the focus areas of interim Budget 2024. "Our government is working with an approach to development that is all-round,all-pervasive and all-inclusive. It covers all castes and people at all levels. We are working to make India a Viksir Bharat by 2047," Sitharaman said.
“As our Prime Minister firmly believes, we need to focus on four major castes. They are, ‘Garib’ (Poor), ‘Mahilayen’ (Women), ‘Yuva’ (Youth) and ‘Annadata’ (Farmer). Their needs, their aspirations, and their welfare are our highest priority. The country progresses, when they progress. All four require and receive government support in their quest to better their lives. Their empowerment and well-being will drive the country forward,” the finance minister said.
