The seat of the finance ministry may have moved but the printing of the highly confidential Budget documents would continue at the press situated in the old seat– North Block on the Raisina Hill.The Finance Minister and most of her team moved to the modern central secretariat office housed in Kartavya Bhawan in September 2025.
Unlike North Block, the new address, however, does not yet have a printing press tugged away from public glare.
According to sources, the printing of Budget and related documents would be done at a dedicated government press in the North Block.
Earlier, the documents were printed at Rashtrapati Bhavan, but this was shifted to a press on Minto Road in the national capital in 1950 after documents were leaked, and in 1980 to North Block.
The printing of several hundred copies of the voluminous budget documents was such an elaborate exercise that printing staff had to be quarantined inside the printing press in the basement of North Block for up to two weeks.
With the start of printing, access to key officials involved in the exercise will be restricted as part of the customary confidentiality protocol.
Ahead of Budget, the traditional ‘halwa’ ceremony, which marks the beginning of quarantine for staff involved in Budget printing exercise, usually takes place at the printing press area.
The ‘halwa’ ceremony is expected to take place next week marking the final stage for the preparation of Union Budget 2026-27 to be unveiled on February 1 in the Lok Sabha.