Budget 2026: Nirmala Sitharaman Meets President Murmu For Auspicious 'Dahi-Cheeni' Ritual

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has met President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Sunday morning shortly before presenting the Union Budget 2026 in Parliament today. As per tradition, the President offered Sitharaman dahi-cheeni, a symbolic ritual which is believed to bring good fortune before important tasks.

The practice has become a familiar prelude to Budget Day over the years and is keenly observed as part of the formal build-up to the annual fiscal exercise, which, notably this year, is to be held on a Sunday.

Union Budget 2026 is Sitharaman's ninth consecutive Budget presentation, the longest of any finance minister in independent India. She presented the Budget for the first time in 2019 and has since managed fiscal policy through the pandemic, global inflationary pressures and slowing external demand. This Budget is likely to be focused on continuing growth while managing fiscal consolidation.

The overall expenditure for 2026 is estimated by analysts at around Rs 54 lakh crore, which is an increase of nearly 8 per cent from the previous year. Gross market borrowing is expected to continue to be over Rs 15 lakh crore, reflecting the continued emphasis on capital spending. In the recent Budgets, the capital expenditure allocations have increased at rates of double digits, touching over Rs 11 lakh crore this year.