Sitharaman participates in ‘halwa ceremony’

The ‘halwa ceremony’ marks the final stage for preparation of Union Budget

The ceremony is an annual ritual in which ‘halwa’ is prepared and served to officials and staff members of the finance ministry who are involved in the preparation of the Budget

They enter what is called a “lock-in period”, during which they stay in the basement of North Block, cut off from the world outside with a view to maintaining the secrecy around the Budget documents

They will emerge only after the finance minister completes her Budget Speech in the Lok Sabha