SUMMARY
Budget 2025: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will deliver her 8th consecutive Union Budget on February 1, 2025. The presentation of India’s Budget has undergone a remarkable transformation, reflecting shifts in tradition and technology. From the iconic colonial-era briefcase to the traditional bahi khata and now the modern digital tablet, take a look at the journey of the Budget papers.
1 / 8For years, India’s finance ministers carried Budget papers in a briefcase. In 2019, for the first time since independence, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman replaced the briefcase with a traditional bahi khata. Here’s a look at the Budget’s journey from a briefcase to a bahi khata, to a tablet.
2 / 8Briefcase and The Budget | The word Budget originated from the French word bougette. It means leather briefcase. (Image: Reuters)
3 / 8A Colonial Ritual | The tradition of carrying Budget papers in a briefcase was handed over to us by the British. India’s Budget briefcase was a copy of the Gladstone Bag that is used in the British budget.
4 / 8Gladstone Bag | In 1860, the then British budget chief William E Gladstone used a red suitcase with the Queen’s monogram embossed in gold to carry his bundle of papers. It came to be known as the Gladstone Bag. Budget briefcase came into being because Gladstone’s speeches were extraordinarily long and he needed a briefcase to carry his speech paper. The original Gladstone Bag had become so shabby that it was officially retired from British service in 2010.
5 / 8Budget Bag: India vs Britain | In Britain, a single budget briefcase is passed from one finance minister to another. In India, however, different finance ministers used to carry their own briefcases or bags. Another key difference is that, on Budget Day, the finance minister of India poses with the budget bag outside Parliament, whereas in Britain, the chancellor of the Exchequer poses with the suitcase in front of 11 Downing Street — the finance minister’s official residence — before delivering the budget speech.
6 / 8Journey of The Budget Bag in India | In 1947, India’s first finance minister RK Shanmukham Chetty carried a leather portfolio to present the first budget of independent India. Between 1970 to 2019 (interim budget), Indian Finance Ministers carried a hardbound briefcase. Unlike Britain, its shape and colours used to vary.
7 / 8From briefcase to bahi khata | For Union Budget 2019 and 2020, FM Nirmala Sitharaman ditched the colonial legacy of a Budget Briefcase for a bahi khata to carry the Budget papers. (Image: Reuters)
8 / 8From Bahi Khata to Paperless Budget | In 2021, the Union Budget went paperless. Like the previous three full Union Budgets, Interim Budget 2024 and Union Budget 2024 were also tabled in paperless (digital) format. On all occasions FM Nirmala Sitharaman used a traditional ‘bahi-khata’ style pouch to carry the tablet. (Image: Reuters)
