What is the 'halwa ceremony' India's finance ministers perform every year before annual budget is locked-in?

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New Delhi: The Halwa ceremony, marking the final stage of the Budget preparation process for Union Budget 2023-24, was held in North Block, today afternoon, in the presence of Union Finance & Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Union Ministers of State for Finance Shri Pankaj Chaudhary and Dr. Bhagwat Kisanrao Karad.

A customary Halwa ceremony is performed every year before the “lock-in” process of Budget preparation begins.

Like the previous two Union Budgets, Union Budget 2023-24 will also be delivered in paperless form. The Union Budget 2023-24 is to be presented on 1 February 2023.

All the 14 Union Budget documents, including the Annual Financial Statement (commonly known as Budget), Demand for Grants (DG), Finance Bill etc. as prescribed by the Constitution, will available on the “Union Budget Mobile App” for hassle-free access of Budget documents by Members of Parliament (MPs) and the general public using the simplest form of digital convenience. It is bilingual (English & Hindi) and will be available on both Android and iOS platforms.

At the Halwa Ceremony, the Union Finance Minister was also accompanied by Dr TV Somanathan, Finance Secretary & Secretary Expenditure; Shri Ajay Seth, Secretary, Economic Affairs; Shri Tuhin Kanta Pandey, Secretary, DIPAM; Shri Sanjay Malhotra, Secretary, Revenue; Dr Anantha V. Nageswaran, Chief Economic Advisor; Shri Nitin Gupta, Chairman, Central Board for Direct taxes (CBDT); Shri Vivek Johri, Chairman, Central Board for Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC); and Shri Ashish Vachhani, Additional Secretary (Budget), besides others officers and staff of the Ministry of Finance, involved in the Budget preparation and compilation process, were also present on the occasion.

As part of the ceremony, the Finance Minister also took a tour of the Budget Press and reviewed the preparations besides extending her best wishes to the officials concerned.

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FP Staff

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