FinMin has moved, but printing of Budget in North Block

“This is a transition phase as North Block press is a tried and tested place,” the source said.

With just a fortnight left for the Budget presentation, it’s not just the fiscal math that Finance Ministry officials are busy with. They are also finalising the location for printing the Budget copies. While the Ministry of Finance shifted from North Block at Raisina Hill to the new complex, Kartavya Bhavan, in October last year, it has had to recalibrate plans and fall back on the old printing press facility at North Block amid “significant constraints” for installing it in the new building.

It is learnt that the Ministry of Finance’s printing press at North Block will publish the final copies of the Union Budget 2026-27, to be presented in Parliament on February 1. The quarantine of officials and the printing exercise at this heritage building comes amid the commencement of restoration work for the Yuge Yugeen Bharat National Museum at North Block, an official told  The Indian Express.

“Senior officials have visited North Block several times to manage the locational hurdle. The transition to Kartavya Bhavan is not without challenges. The Budget press at the now vacated premises of North Block will be used to print the upcoming Budget,” the official said.

When contacted, sources in the Ministry of Finance said new machines have been procured and installed in Kartavya Bhavan. “Checking the machines and trial printing is underway,” the source said. But given that the Budget printing process involves multiple ministries, departments and personnel, and is a time bound activity, the decision to print the Budget in North Block is “by way of abundant caution”, the sources said.

A customary halwa ceremony is performed every year before officials involved in the Budget preparation are locked in. Nearly 60 people will be locked in, the sources said. They are the personnel directly associated with the Budget making and printing process. To maintain secrecy, they are cut off from their families with no access to phones or any other device until the presentation of the Budget by the Finance Minister in Parliament.

These personnel can, however, watch television inside. Post-Covid, the lock-in period has reduced to just under a week from 10-12 days earlier as the number of hard copies of the Budget have been reduced. Much of the distribution is online and digital.

The Budget press, the secure facility where the annual Union Budget is printed, was set to get a makeover with modern and lighter machinery to fit within the space and structural constraints of the new complex at Kartavya Bhavan. The Ministry had floated a tender for the new machinery on September 2, 2025. In a file noting attached with the tender document, a Finance Ministry official said that due to relocation of the Budget press, there was a need to upgrade the printing infrastructure to “meet the time-bound and confidential requirements” of printing Budget documents.

However, the new setup has not become functional in time for the Budget to be printed there. And on the other hand, work on conservation of North Block, before it can be converted into a museum, started around two months ago, sources said. This is expected to be completed within 24 months.