From North Block to Central Vista: As Finance Ministry shifts, its historic Budget Press set for modern, lighter avatar

In preparation for the move, the Finance Ministry floated a tender on September 2 for digital production printers with an estimated cost of Rs 10 crore. 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.

The official noted that a decision was taken to go for a “computer-to-plate system, a single-colour web offset printing machine”. However, after a technical committee inspected the site and deliberated on the matter, “it was noted that the infrastructure of the new premises imposes significant constraints”, the noting says. The proposed high-speed web offset machines require a minimum height of 18 feet, while the CCS building offered a maximum height of 16.4 feet, it says.

“Additionally, the load-bearing capacity of the floors, particularly on the ground level, was found to be inadequate for heavy-duty post-press machines such as paper-cutters and trimmers. These technical limitations necessitated a re-evaluation of the machinery options originally proposed,” the noting says.

According to the file noting, after a market survey, the technical committee concluded that “a shift from traditional offset technology to high-speed digital production printing systems and inkjet web presses would be more viable and futuristic. These modern digital machines not only offer compatibility with the structural and space constraints of the new premises but also bring substantial operational advantages.”

According to officials, the six-storyed CCS building was not designed to house heavy machinery.

The current Budget press is located in the basement of North Block. It was shifted after a leak of the Union Budget of 1956-1957 from the press at Rashtrapati Bhavan. According to court proceedings in the Official Secrets Act case related to the matter, F X Jacobs, the general foreman of the Rashtrapati Bhavan printing press, had passed on information from the Union Budget before it was presented. Jacobs had given information about taxation proposals to a Delhi resident, D P Chadha, who in turn sold it to some businessmen in Mumbai. This led the Finance Ministry to decide to install a printing press within its own premises later.

The Union Budget speech and other details, including taxation proposals, are closely guarded until the official announcement by the Finance Minister in order to prevent anyone from gaining undue advantage through prior knowledge. Those involved in the printing of the Budget documents are locked up in the basement of North Block after the halwa-making ceremony, and are allowed to step out only after the Budget is presented in Parliament. The basement room is secured and phones are not allowed. They can, however, watch television inside.

Under the Central Vista plan, North Block and South Block are to be converted into museums, while post-Independence office buildings like Shastri Bhawan, Nirman Bhawan, Krishi Bhawan and Udyog Bhawan are to be demolished to make way for 10 new CCS buildings.

While CCS-3 was inaugurated and named Kartavya Bhawan-3 in August, CCS-1, which is located on Man Singh Road, is likely to be ready in October. Work on CCS-2 is still underway. The Ministries of Home Affairs, Personnel, Petroleum and Natural Gas, External Affairs, Rural Development and MSME have moved into Kartavya Bhawan-3.