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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman met with President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan today before presenting the Union Budget 2025 in Parliament. As part of tradition, President Murmu offered 'dahi-cheeni' (curd and sugar) to Ms Sitharaman, a customary gesture believed to bring "good luck".
Accompanied by Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary and other senior officials, Ms Sitharaman was seen discussing key aspects of the Budget with the President. Following this, Ms Sitharaman headed to Parliament to deliver her record eighth consecutive budget speech in the Lok Sabha.
Ms Sitharaman presented the Budget from a digital tablet encased in a traditional red 'bahi-khata' pouch - a shift away from the British-era Budget briefcase - a practice she introduced in 2019.
Since 2021, she has carried the Budget in digital format, continuing this practice for the fifth consecutive year. Her predecessors, including Arun Jaitley and Piyush Goyal, had used briefcases, a tradition that dates back to the 1860s when British Chancellor of the Exchequer William Gladstone carried his Budget papers in a red leather case.
A day before the Budget presentation, the Economic Survey 2024-25 projected India's GDP growth in the range of 6.3 per cent to 6.8 per cent for the financial year 2025-26.
The Budget session of Parliament began on January 31 with a joint address by President Murmu. The first part of the session will run until February 13, after which both Houses will reconvene on March 10. The session will conclude on April 4.