The Union Budget 2026 is just around the corner. Let's find out who delivered the longest budget speech in the history of the country and how long and how many words it contained...

Union Budget 2026: The Union Budget 2026 is fast approaching. From the general public to the business community, everyone has certain expectations from the budget. Every year, the government attempts to address the economic needs and priorities of the upcoming financial year through the budget. Changes are made every year according to the country's needs.

Now, all eyes are on Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who is expected to present her ninth budget on February 1st. Let's find out who delivered the longest budget speech in the history of the country and how long and how many words it contained...

The Longest Budget Speech So Far?

The longest budget speech in the country's history is held by the current Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman. In 2020, she delivered a budget speech in Parliament that lasted approximately 2 hours and 42 minutes. This is considered the longest speech to date. In setting this record, she broke her own record from her 2019 budget speech, which lasted 2 hours and 17 minutes.

Comparing the two years, her speeches in recent years have been considerably shorter. She completed the 2024 interim budget in just 56 minutes, which was the shortest speech of her tenure. Her 2025 budget speech was approximately 1 hour and 17 minutes long.

Longest Budget Speech by Word Count

If we consider the budget speech based on the number of words, this record belongs to the year 1991.  The then Finance Minister, Manmohan Singh, delivered a budget speech in Parliament that contained approximately 18,650 words.

This is considered the longest speech to date in terms of word count. The second longest budget speech was delivered in 2018, when Arun Jaitley presented the budget with a speech of approximately 18,604 words.