Budget 2026 On Sunday: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman To Table The Budget On Feb. 1

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is expected to table the Union Budget for 2026–27 on Feb. 1, according to officials familiar with the matter. The date has not yet received formal government notification.

If presented as planned, the Budget will be tabled on a Sunday. February 1, 2026 falls on a weekend, making it a rare Sunday sitting of Parliament for the annual financial statement.

The Union Budget has been presented on Feb. 1 every year since 2017, regardless of the day of the week. The government has retained the date as part of its post-2017 Budget calendar.

Parliament has convened on Sundays in limited circumstances in the past. Such sittings took place during special situations, including in 2020 and 2012.

Customs duty reform is shaping up to be the next major structural clean-up on the Government’s reform agenda, with the upcoming Union Budget expected to signal the start of a comprehensive overhaul.

People in the know told NDTV Profit, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s Budget speech is likely to have two dedicated paragraphs outlining the roadmap for revamping customs, underlining its growing importance in improving ease of doing business and strengthening India’s manufacturing competitiveness.

At the heart of the proposed reform is a push to simplify the complex web of customs notifications that has accumulated over the years. The government is considering replacing the current system of multiple exemption and concessional duty notifications with a single, comprehensive customs notification.

Officials believe this move could significantly reduce interpretational disputes, compliance burden and litigation, while also improving transparency for importers and customs officials alike.

Another key pillar of the reform is expected to address duty inversion, particularly in sectors critical to India’s industrial and clean-energy ambitions. Also, focus will be on realigning the tariff structures with India’s free trade agreement (FTA) commitments with multiple nations.