Was Union Budget 2024 Nirmala Sitharaman's shortest speech? Which was the longest?
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman's Union Budget 2024 speech lasted 86 minute, a much shorter than her record-breaking 160-minute-long speech in 2020.
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget for the seventh consecutive year on Tuesday in Parliament that last 86 minutes, much shorter than her record 160-minute-long speech in 2020.
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In the 2020 Union Budget, Nirmala Sitharaman spoke for record for 2 hours and 40 minutes. In 2019, when she began her term as finance minister, she spoke for 2 hours and 17 minutes as well.
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Nirmala Sitharaman's speech for the 2024 Union budget presentation was her shortest yet at 86 minutes. In 2021 she took 1 hour and 50 minutes, in 2022 she took 1 hour and 32 minutes and in 2023 she took 1 hour and 27 minutes for her speech.
Deccan Herald reported that her first speech in 2019 was 10,965 words long, while the 2024 Budget speech was almost half at 5,271 words.
Her record-holding budget speech in February, 2020 had to be cut short by two pages even after crossing 2 hours and 40 minutes.
Presenting the budget for the seventh consecutive year and the first one under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's third term, Nirmala Sitharaman, stressed the idea of ‘Vikshit Bharat’ in her speech.
She added that it would “guide India toward strong development and all-round prosperity".
The Union Budget 2024 focused on nine priority areas: productivity and resilience in agriculture, employment and skilling, inclusive human resource development and social justice, manufacturing and services, urban development, energy security, infrastructure, innovation, research and development and next-generation reforms.
The Finance Minister will also present a separate Jammu and Kashmir budget in parliament later, as the sitting of Parliament was adjourned after her speech.