New Delhi [India], February 2 : Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, on Sunday, interacted with 30 university students who witnessed the session live in Parliament from the Lok Sabha gallery during the presentation of the Union Budget 2026-27.
She described the interaction as a departure from the usual practice of giving interviews to newspapers and television studios after the Budget presentation. Speaking at the Youth Dialogue on Budget 2026, Sitharaman said the idea came from her team, who suggested taking a different approach this time.
"This time my team thought of doing something out of the ordinary, saying, 'You go after presenting the budget to each one of the studios or each one of the newspapers and give them inter...'" she said.
She shared that they devised the idea of inviting college students to the Parliament, asking the attendees to share their experience.
"Therefore, they thought that they would get in touch with universities and come with a group of students with whom they can do this interaction, and that's how this has worked out... I would certainly like to know from you what the experience of sitting in the parliament and listening to a budget was like," she said.
Sitharaman also spoke about the efforts that are being made to ensure a "better India" for students while drawing a contrast with the India she grew up in.
"Every now and then, I can tell you what the country I was born in is, what the country I was brought up in is, and what this country is where I am living now. But that India, I wouldn't want any of you all to remember. That's not the India we want anymore in the future for anybody. We want a better India," Sitharaman said.
Clarifying that she does not think that everything in the past can be perceived as negative, the Finance Minister added, "I'm not saying everything which happened in the past is bad, but because of the way in which economies grew after coming out of imperialism, our pace of growth, our type of growth, and our type of governance made it delayed. Everything was delayed."
Earlier in the day, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2026-27 in Lok Sabha, her ninth consecutive Union Budget.
Asserting that the Union Budget 2026-27 is driven by "Yuvashakti" and based on "three kartavyas", Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday proposed seven high-speed rail corridors, new dedicated freight corridors, and the operationalisation of 20 national waterways over the next five years as part of the Union Budget.
The Union Budget has outlined a major push for environmentally sustainable passenger transport, proposing the development of seven high-speed rail corridors across key urban and economic centres. These corridors will act as growth connectors, cutting travel time, reducing emissions, and supporting regional development.
The proposed routes include Mumbai-Pune, Pune-Hyderabad, Hyderabad-Bengaluru, Hyderabad-Chennai, Chennai-Bengaluru, Delhi-Varanasi, and Varanasi-Siliguri. Together, they will link India's financial hubs, technology centres, manufacturing clusters, and emerging cities through faster, cleaner mobility.
The budget also highlighted ecotourism and nature-based travel. The Finance Minister said, "India has the potential and opportunity to offer world-class trekking and hiking experiences."
The government will develop sustainable mountain trails in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir, as well as in Araku Valley in the Eastern Ghats and Pudigai Malai in the Western Ghats.