Interim Budget 2024: FM Nirmala Sitharaman delivers her shortest speech

In the last Budget, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman spoke for 87 minutes, which was then her shortest-ever speech. She holds the record of delivering the longest Budget speech of 2 hours and 40 minutes in 2020.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented 2024-25 Interim Budget for 58 minutes on Thursday, her shortest-ever speech so far. With India going for the Lok Sabha elections in three months, the FM made no major announcements, including no changes in the income tax rates. The speech focused on Viksit Bharat for 2047.

The finance minister's address at the most recent budget was the shortest she has ever given—87 minutes. In 2020, she set a record by giving the longest budget speech, lasting two hours and forty minutes. She gave a lengthy speech on infrastructure development, healthcare, and jobs.

Sitharaman's 2019 budget address lasted for two hours and twenty minutes. In that year, the Union Budget was delivered by a full-time female finance minister for the first time. Among the main announcements were a 10-point plan for the coming decade, advantages for MSMEs and new businesses, and the launching of income tax return pre-filing.

The main points of the Union Budget 2024, as presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, were women's empowerment and farmer welfare via the PM KISAN Yojana.

In her pre-election Budget, which is officially a vote on account and colloquially referred to as an interim Budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated on Thursday that the Indian economy has seen a significant positive transition over the past ten years.

According to Sitharaman, Indians are looking forward to the future with alternatives and optimism. She went on to say that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration addressed every facet of inclusion.