Briefcase to tablet: Journey of Budget presentation in India

The transition from the briefcase to the 'bahi khata' and now to the tablet has reflected the changing times and the need to adapt to new technologies.

Over the years, the Union Budget presentation has witnessed many changes. On the day of Budget presentation, the Finance Minister poses with a red pouch outside the Parliament. This tradition has been followed till now by all the Finance Ministers in India.

The journey of budget presentation in India has been interesting and symbolic. The transition from briefcase to 'bahi khata', and now tablet, has reflected the need to adapt to new technologies.

While in Britain, the Budget briefcase was passed on from one finance minister to another, Indian ministers kept changing bags during their tenure.

Former Finance Minister Arun Jaitley holding the Union Budget briefcase at Parliament. (Union Budget 2018-19)

The tradition of briefcase was inherited in India by Britishers. In 1860, the then budget chief William E Gladstone used a red suitcase with the Queen’s monogram embossed on it. This was called 'Gladstone Box', and all the supreme heads carried this box during their presentations.

India’s first finance minister R K Shanmukham Chetty carried the first budget briefcase on November 26, 1947.

Interim Finance Minister Piyush Goyal presents the interim Budget 2019-20 at Parliament. 

When the incumbent Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented her first Union Budget in 2019, she scripted history by breaking the tradition. Sitharaman replaced the old budget briefcase with 'bahi khata' - a traditional Indian ledger of accounts - dumping the colonial way of carrying a briefcase.

Sitharaman continued in 2020 and presented her budget using the bahi khata again.

However in 2021, for the first time, the bahi khata gave way to a tablet, a move in tandem with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s push for a 'Digital India.'

The use of the tablet has also made the budget presentation more accessible and completely paperless, as it can be viewed online as well. The Centre also launched the 'Union Budget Mobile App' for lawmakers and public to access Budget documents easily.

Reports at the time said that the tablet was 'Made in India' - an effort to send out the message of 'Atmanirbhar Bharat'.

While bahi khata signified India’s rich cultural heritage, tablet represented the country’s aspirations to become a digital superpower.