New Delhi, Jan 15 (PTI) The seat of the finance ministry may have moved but the printing of the highly confidential Budget documents would continue at the press situated in the old seat-- North Block on the Raisina Hill.

The Finance Minister and most of her team moved to the modern central secretariat office housed in Kartavya Bhawan in September 2025.

Unlike North Block, the new address, however, does not yet have a printing press tugged away from public glare.

According to sources, the printing of Budget and related documents would be done at a dedicated government press in the North Block.

Earlier, the documents were printed at Rashtrapati Bhavan, but this was shifted to a press on Minto Road in the national capital in 1950 after documents were leaked, and in 1980 to North Block.

The printing of several hundred copies of the voluminous budget documents was such an elaborate exercise that printing staff had to be quarantined inside the printing press in the basement of North Block for up to two weeks.

With the start of printing, access to key officials involved in the exercise will be restricted as part of the customary confidentiality protocol.

Ahead of Budget, the traditional ‘halwa’ ceremony, which marks the beginning of quarantine for staff involved in Budget printing exercise, usually takes place at the printing press area.

The ‘halwa’ ceremony is expected to take place next week marking the final stage for the preparation of Union Budget 2026-27 to be unveiled on February 1 in the Lok Sabha.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is going to present Budget 2026-27, her ninth straight budget, against the backdrop of GDP growth expected at 7.4 per cent in the current financial year with inflation in the comfortable zone.

It is to be noted that Budget went paperless for the first time in 2021 when Sitharaman read out Budget from tablet and entire Budget documents were distributed electronically to Members of Parliament (MPs).

This was the first time since the presentation of independent India's first budget on November 26, 1947 that the documents containing income and expenditure statement of the Union government along with the finance bill, detailing new taxes and other measures for the new financial year, was not physically printed at mass scale.

The Finance Minister in 2021 also launched the 'Union Budget Mobile App' for hassle-free access of Budget documents by MPs and general public using the simplest form of digital convenience.

The mobile app facilitated complete access to 14 Union Budget documents, including the Annual Financial Statement (commonly known as Budget), Demand for Grants (DG), Finance Bill. PTI DP ANZ DP ANU ANU

Budget printing will occur at North Block with quarantined staff, restricted access, and continued digital distribution via a mobile app. Printing of the Union Budget 2026-27 will occur at a dedicated government press in North Block despite relocation of ministerial offices; operational protocols include quarantining printing staff, restricting access to key officials, and holding the traditional 'halwa' ceremony to commence confidential production, while noting the parallel availability of electronic distribution and the Union Budget Mobile App introduced in 2021.