Halwa ceremony marking lockin of Budget documents held at North Block

The Halwa ceremony, marking the final stage of the budget preparation process for full Budget of 2024-25, was held in North Block on Tuesday in the presence of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of State Pankaj Chaudhary, and secretaries.

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Officers and staff involved in the budget preparation and compilation process were also present on the occasion.

A customary Halwa ceremony is performed every year before the “lock-in” process of the budget preparation begins. The Halwa Ceremony is a preparation of the Indian sweet dish in a large ‘kadhai’ at the North Block.

The Finance Minister ceremoniously stirs the ‘kadhai’ and generally serves the halwa to everyone involved in the Budget-making process. This tradition is also a way to acknowledge the hard work of all the finance ministry officials. The halwa ceremony heralds the process of printing all the budget documents ahead of the presentation in Parliament.