Budget 2025: Check Full Schedule As Nirmala Sitharaman Is Set To Present 8th Consecutive Union Budget

With the Budget merely hours away, the public expects the government to provide tax relief in the Budget for the middle class and lower income groups in the society. 

Since the Budget is being presented on February 1, the markets will remain open for a special trading session on the day.

Source : ABPLIVE AI

Budget 2025: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is scheduled to table the Union Budget 2025 tomorrow on February 1. This will mark the eighth consecutive budget for the minister and the second full-fledged budget of the Modi 3.0 government. The Budget Session began on January 31, 2025, with the FM presenting the Economic Survey before the Parliament.

The survey is prepared by the Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) and is considered as a report card of the Indian economy in the currnet fiscal year. It also provides a roadmap for policies going ahead and detailed insights of the development in various sectors in the economy. The Budget Session will last till April 4, 2025. 

FM's Complete Schedule On Budget Day

The Budget will be presented in the Parliament at 11 AM. Let's take a look at the complete schedule of the finance minister on the Budget Day.

• The Finance Minister will depart for North Block from her residence at 8:30 AM. She will proceed to the Rashtrapati Bhavan with the budget team and present a copy of the budget to the President.

• After receiving approval for the budget from the President, Sitharaman will return to the ministry. The photo shoot will be held at Gate No. 2 of North Block at 9 AM.

• The FM and Minister of State for Finance, Pankaj Chaudhary, will enter Parliament with the budget at 10 AM. Photo shoot will be conducted here.

• Following this, the FM will take part in the Union Cabinet meeting, chaired by PM Modi, in the Parliament House complex from 10:15 AM to 10:30 AM. The approval of the cabinet for the budget will be discussed here.

• After getting the cabinet's approval, Sitharaman will present the budget in the Lok Sabha at 11 AM.

• The proceedings of the Rajya Sabha will begin an hour after the process of presenting the General Budget 2024-25 in the Lok Sabha is completed.

• Following the presentation, the finance minister will address a press conference after presenting the budget at the National Media Center at 3 PM. The conference will also be attended by the Minister of State for Finance, Finance Secretary, Secretary of the Ministry of Finance and Chief Economic Advisor to the Government of India.

How To Watch Budget LIVE?

You can tune into ABP's website. To watch the in-depth analysis of the Finance Minister's address, viewers can log in to ABP's news channels at 11 am. 

The live telecast of the Budget presentation will also be available on DD News and Sansad TV. You can also access the live streaming of the FM's speech on the YouTube channels of Sansad TV and DD News. 

Are Stock Markets Closed On Feb 1?

Typically, stock markets remain closed for trading on weekends. However, since the Budget is being presented on February 1, the markets will remain open for a special trading session on the day. The equity markets will operate from 9:15 AM to 3:30 PM, and pre-open trading will take place from 9 to 9:08 AM. The commodity derivates market will also be open for trading till 5 PM.

Budget Expectations

The Economic Survey 2025 projected the Indian economy to grow at 6.3 per cent to 6.8 per cent in the upcoming 2025-26 fiscal year (FY26). With the Budget merely hours away, the public expects the government to provide tax relief in the Budget for the middle class and lower income groups in the society. 

Reduction in the GST rates applicable on health insurance is a major expectation of the common man. Rahul Mohata, co-founder and COO, Ideal Insurance, explains that slashing the GST on health insurance from 18 per cent to 5 per cent will make coverage much more affordable for the people. Currently, only 37 per cent of the Indian population is insured, Mohata argues. This decision, if implemented, he says could help push individuals to go for higher sum insured policies, in turn, providing more financial security amid the rising healthcare costs. 

Sandeep Sabharwal, Group CEO, Sohan Lal Commodity Management Ltd, hopes for an increase in the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) limit to Rs 5 lakh. He argues that this change would help provide more liquidity to the farmers to manage their inputs costs and unpredictable expenses. "We also expect raising investment in agricultural R&D to at least 1 per cent of Agri-GDP that can build state-of-the-art technologies to not only enhance supply-chain efficiency and streamline SOPs of post-harvest management but also help reduce food waste, improve farmers' incomes, and ensure food security," he added.

Amrutesh Reddy, Director, NDR InvIT Managers, said that infrastructure development has been a crucial focus in the Indian economy. He suggests that the budget could further look into simplifying land acquisition processes and providing swifter approvals for logistics and warehousing projects. This can help 'reduce lead times and enable the delivery of critical infrastructure'. 

The executive noted, "Incentives for green warehousing and sustainable building practices are essential to align with global environmental standards and future-proof the sector. Supporting the development of integrated industrial parks and export hubs tailored to MSMEs can play a transformative role in boosting India’s manufacturing and export capabilities."

Further, the industries hope for authorities to push domestic manufacturing and provide tax incentives for several sectors, boosting the ease of doing business.