The Halwa ceremony, marking the final stage of the Budget preparation process for Union Budget 2026-27, was held today in the Budget Press at North Block, in the presence of Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman and Union Minister of State for Finance, Shri Pankaj Chaudhary.

The ‘Halwa ceremony’ precedes the ‘lock-in’ of the officials involved in preparation of the Union Budget. The Union Budget 2026-27 will be presented on 1^st February, 2026.

At the Halwa Ceremony, the Union Finance Minister 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 Union Finance 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 etc. 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 1^st February, 2026.

Union Budget 2026-27 finalised with Halwa Ceremony; budget documents to be released digitally after the Budget Speech. The Halwa Ceremony initiates the formal 'lock-in' of officials finalising Union Budget 2026-27 for presentation on 1 February 2026, and principal Budget documents - the Annual Financial Statement, Demand for Grants, and Finance Bill - will be made available after the Budget Speech via a bilingual mobile app on Android and iOS and the Union Budget Web Portal.