Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman delivered her shortest budget speech at 56 minutes, surpassing her record of one and a half hours in her budget speech of 2022.
Sitharaman also holds the record for the longest budget speech in India's history. In 2020, she spoke for 2 hours and 42 minutes, breaking her own record from the previous year, when she spoke for around 2 hours and 17 minutes. The record for the shortest budget speech is held by former Finance Minister Hirubhai Mulljibhai Patel, who presented the Union Budget in 1977 with a speech containing 800 words.
On the other hand, the record for the longest budget speech in terms of word count was held by former Prime Minister and Finance Minister Manmohan Singh in 1991. He used 18,650 words in his budget speech.
The government kept the budget speech short because they plan to present a detailed budget in July, expecting to win the election. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated, "In the full budget in July, our government will share a detailed plan for developing Viksit Bharat."
“As our Prime Minister firmly believes, we need to focus on four major castes. They are ‘Garib’, ‘Mahilayen’, ‘Yuva’ and ‘Annadata’. 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,” she said.
The goal of achieving Viksit Bharat by 2047 was a key focus in the interim Budget 2024. Sitharaman said, "Our government is working on development that includes everyone, no matter their caste or background. We're striving to make India developed by 2047."
