Over 100 Finance Ministry officials will stay in the Budget printing press till Jaitley announces the Budget on February 1, to maintain secrecy. The process of printing documents for the 2017-18 Budget will begin on Thursday with the ritual 'halwa ceremony' in Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's presence. Jaitley will participate in the ritual ceremony to be held at 4 pm along with other Finance Ministry officials at the North Block here. More than 100 Finance Ministry officials will stay in Budget Printing Press till Jaitley presents his budget speech. The 'lock-in' of the documents is followed by the 'halwa ceremony', which is observed to maintain the secrecy of the budget preparation process.

Source: dna January 19, 2017 07:04 UTC