CNBC TV18
By Anand Singha
Published Jan 30, 2024
The lengthiest budget speeches delivered by finance ministers, both in terms of duration and word count, offer an intriguing glimpse into the history of fiscal presentations.
Duration-wise, the top contenders are as follows:
Nirmala Sitharaman's address in 2020 stands out as the lengthiest, spanning an impressive 2 hours and 42 minutes.
Following closely, Nirmala Sitharaman's 2019 speech clocks in at 2 hours and 17 minutes.
Jaswant Singh's 2003 budget speech extends to 2 hours and 13 minutes.
Arun Jaitley's 2014 budget presentation lasted 2 hours and 10 minutes.
On the other hand, when evaluating the speeches in terms of word count:
Manmohan Singh's 1991 budget speech takes the lead with a substantial 18,650 words.
Arun Jaitley's 2018 address is a close contender with 18,604 words.
Conversely, the shortest budget speech on record comprises a mere 800 words. This succinct delivery occurred in 1977 and was given by the finance minister at the time, Hirubhai Mulljibhai Patel.