The traditional Halwa ceremony marking the final stage of the budget preparation process for the full budget for the year 2025-26 will be held at North Block on Friday evening. As per tradition, the ceremony will be led by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in which Minister of State Pankaj Chaudhary and Secretaries will be present. On this occasion, officers and employees involved in the budget preparation and compilation process will also be present.
The traditional Halwa ceremony is held every year before the “lock-in” process of budget preparation begins. The Halwa ceremony is a ritual of preparing Indian sweets in a large pan in North Block.
The Finance Minister ceremoniously stirs the cauldron and usually serves halwa to all those involved in the budget making process. This tradition is also a way of recognizing the hard work of all the officers of the Finance Ministry. The Halwa ceremony marks the beginning of the process of printing all the budget documents before presentation in Parliament.
The Halwa ceremony is an important event as it also marks the beginning of the lockdown in the Finance Ministry. This means that no officer is allowed to go out of the ministry premises.
