Meet Nirmala Sitharaman’s team for Budget FY27

On February 1, a Sunday, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the 15th Budget of the Narendra Modi government since it took office in 2014.

- RUCHIKA CHITRAVANSHI, MONIKA YADAV & HARSH KUMAR

This will also be Sitharaman’s ninth consecutive Budget — already a record — and the second full Budget since the National Democratic Alliance came to power for a third consecutive term in 2024.Coming amid heightened global uncertainty, the Budget for 2026-27 (FY27) must ensure that India’s domestic strengths are harnessed to achieve the goal of Viksit Bharat by 2047. With Advance Estimates projecting higher-than-expected ‘gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 7.4 per cent in 2025-26 despite external headwinds, the Budget is expected to focus on steps to sustain this momentum. This is also the year when the government switches from the fiscal glide path to targeting a debt ratio of 50 plus/minus 1 per cent of GDP by 2030-31.

For the FY27 Budget, the finance minister is backed by a strong team of bureaucrats and economists, including several new entrants, to chart the future strategy. This will, however, be Sitharaman’s first Budget without a finance secretary, a post left vacant after Ajay Seth stepped down in June 2025.

While Nirmala Sitharaman already holds the record for presenting the highest number of consecutive Budgets, she will come a step closer to Morarji Desai, who holds the record for presenting a total of 10 Budgets. Sitharaman’s predecessors, including Manmohan Singh, Arun Jaitley, P Chidambaram, and Yashwant Sinha, had presented five Budgets in a row.

In finalising the Budget for FY27, Sitharaman will have to ensure that the Indian economy is safeguarded against global shocks by lifting manufacturing, consumption, and public expenditure while maintaining fiscal prudence. With tax revenues seeing tepid growth, the finance minister will also have to work towards widening the tax base without hurting consumer sentiment. Attention will also be on the long-term 2047 agenda. With that in focus, she is expected to keep the pedal down on the reform agenda, including Customs reforms.