Halwa ceremony marks printing of Budget-2019 at Finance Ministry

New Delhi: The traditional 'Halwa ceremony' was held at the Finance Ministry in the North Block here on Saturday, which marks the beginning of printing of Budget documents.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman attended the ceremony in the presence of Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs Anurag Thakur, SC Garg, Finance Secretary, AB Pandey, Revenue Secretary, Rajiv Kumar Secretary, Department of Financial Services, and Atanu Chakraborty, Secretary, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM), and other officials.

Sitharaman, India's first full-fledged woman Finance Minister will present the annual Budget for the financial year 2019-20 on July 5. She will table the Economic Survey report in parliament on July 4.

To maintain the secrecy of the Budget, there is a lock-in of the officials involved in making the Budget.

The Finance Minister also took a round of the Press and acquainted herself with the printing process.

According to an official statement, PC Mody, Chairman, CBDT, PK Das, Chairman, CBIC, Members of CBDT and CBIC, and Arvind Srivastava, Joint Secretary, Budget, and other officers and staff of the Ministry of Finance involved in the Budget preparation and printing process were also present on the occasion.