Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday arrived at the Parliament with Union Budget 2019 documents draped in a four-fold red cloth called a 'bahi-khata' (ledger). CEA Krishnamurthy Subramanian explaining the shift from briefcase to red cloth said, "It is in Indian tradition. It symbolizes our departure from slavery of Western thought. It is not a budget but a bahi-khata."

from Times of India https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/sitharaman-discards-briefcase-goes-for-bahi-khata/articleshow/70083486.cms