Days ahead of the Union Budget presentation in Parliament, the Finance Ministry is set to hold the traditional Halwa Ceremony, a small but important ritual that marks the final stage of budget preparations. This year, the ceremony will take place next week, ahead of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presenting the Union Budget 2026-27 in the Lok Sabha on February 1 at 11 am.

The Halwa Ceremony is an annual event in which a sweet dish, halwa, is prepared in a large vessel at the North Block and served to ministry officials and staff involved in drafting the Budget. The event takes place in the basement of the Finance Ministry, which houses a secure printing press where the Budget documents are produced—a practice that has been in place since 1980.

The ceremony marks the beginning of the Budget printing process, signaling that no major changes will be made to the document. It also celebrates the collective effort and dedication of the officials who have worked for months on preparing the Budget.

Following the Halwa Ceremony, ministry officials enter a “lock-in” phase, a period of strict quarantine to maintain confidentiality. During this time, staff involved in the Budget remain within the ministry premises, cutting off communication with family and the outside world, until the Budget is formally presented in Parliament. This ensures that sensitive information about the final document is fully protected.

The Union Budget 2026-27 will be Finance Minister Sitharaman’s ninth consecutive budget. It comes amid an expected GDP growth of 7.4 percent in the current financial year. The first phase of the Budget Session is scheduled from January 28 to February 13, followed by a recess and a second phase, according to Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju.