Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday participated in the traditional ‘halwa’ ceremony, marking the final stage for the preparation of the Union Budget 2026-27, to be unveiled on February 1 in the Lok Sabha.The ceremony took place at the North Block on Raisina Hill, the old address of the Finance Ministry.The ceremony is a customary ritual in which traditional dessert ‘halwa’ is prepared and served to officials and staff members of the finance ministry who are involved in the preparation of the budget.The ‘halwa ceremony’ precedes the ‘lock-in’ of the officials involved in preparation of the Union Budget, an official statement said.Maintaining the tradition, it was organised in the basement of North Block, which was attended by the finance minister and other high-ranking officials.The Union Budget will be presented on February 1, 2026.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.Also ReadFM launches real-time foreign currency settlement system in GIFT CityAt the halwa ceremony, the Finance Minister was accompanied by Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary and the secretaries of all the departments under the Ministry of… Read MoreYourStory RSS Feed
