Budget press set for digital makeover after finance ministry's office shifts

As the finance ministry gets ready to soon leave North Block and occupy its new offices in the Common Central Secretariat (CCS)-1 building, the Budget press, the secure facility where the annual Union Budget is printed, is set to get a makeover with modern and lighter machinery to fit within the space and structural constraints of the new complex, according to official documents and sources.

- DAMINI NATH

The finance ministry has been allotted space on the ground, fourth, fifth and sixth floors of the CCS-1 building, which is a part of a three-building complex constructed under the Central Vista redevelopment plan, according to officials of the Union housing and urban affairs ministry. While the finance ministry offices will be located on the fourth, fifth and sixth floors, the Budget press is likely to be on the ground floor.

In preparation for the move, the finance ministry floated a tender on September 2 for digital production printers with an estimated cost of ₹10 crore. In a file noting attached with the tender document, a finance ministry official said that due to relocation of the Budget press, there was a need to upgrade the printing infrastructure to "meet the time-bound and confidential requirements" of printing Budget documents.