The Union Budget 2026–27, presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, outlines India’s roadmap for investment-led economic growth, fiscal stability, and global competitiveness amid ongoing global uncertainty. Anchored around the theme of Yuva Shakti–driven growth, the Budget aims to transform India’s demographic dividend into sustained productivity, employment, and entrepreneurship.
A major focus of the Union Budget 2026–27 is on strengthening domestic manufacturing and infrastructure. The government has allocated ₹12.2 lakh crore in capital expenditure to boost logistics, urban development, and industrial expansion. Strategic and frontier sectors such as biopharmaceuticals, semiconductors, electronics manufacturing, chemicals, rare earths, textiles, and container manufacturing have received targeted policy and financial support to enhance self-reliance and reduce import dependence.
The Budget places strong emphasis on MSMEs and small businesses as key engines of job creation and exports. New initiatives such as the ₹10,000 crore SME Growth Fund and enhanced support under the Self-Reliant India Fund aim to create globally competitive Champion SMEs by improving access to equity, liquidity, and professional management.
Digital infrastructure and data centres emerge as a major highlight of the Budget. A tax holiday till 2047 for data centre operations and cloud service providers has been introduced to position India as a global hub for cloud computing, artificial intelligence, fintech, and digital services. These measures provide long-term policy certainty and are expected to attract large-scale domestic and foreign investments.
The services sector, including IT services, software development, ITeS, KPO, contract R&D, and the AVGC (Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics) industry, receives renewed support through tax rationalisation, safe harbour provisions, and large-scale skilling initiatives. The government aims to increase India’s global share in services exports to 10% by 2047.
Healthcare, medical value tourism, AYUSH, allied health services, and the care economy have been prioritised to strengthen service delivery, build skilled healthcare manpower, and enhance India’s attractiveness as a global healthcare destination. Climate action is reinforced through investment in carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) technologies to support cleaner industrial growth.
The Budget also introduces tax and customs reforms to improve ease of doing business, reduce litigation, simplify compliance, and enhance trust-based administration. Regulatory certainty, predictable taxation, and simplified customs procedures are expected to strengthen foreign investment, export competitiveness, and global integration.
Overall, the Union Budget 2026–27 presents a forward-looking, growth-oriented framework focused on youth empowerment, infrastructure development, manufacturing expansion, digital transformation, and inclusive economic growth, reinforcing India’s position as a preferred investment destination.
