Highlights of the Union Budget 2026-27:
The Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs presented the Union Budget 2026–27 in Parliament, marking the first Budget prepared in the newly inaugurated Kartavya Bhawan.The budget framed as a Yuva Shakti-driven Budget, is anchored in the vision of Viksit Bharat and reflects the guiding principles of Action over Ambivalence, Reform over Rhetoric, and People over Populism.The Budget is guided by three Kartavyas (duties) aimed at accelerating economic growth, building people’s capacities, and ensuring inclusive development.
Three Kartavyas:
- Sustain Economic Growth: To enhance productivity, competitiveness, and build resilience against volatile global dynamics.
- Fulfill Aspirations: To build the capacity of the youth and citizens, making them strong partners in India’s prosperity.
- Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas: To ensure every family, community, region, and sector has access to resources and opportunities, focusing on the “Last Mile.”
First Kartavya: Accelerate & Sustain Economic Growth
- Manufacturing & Industry (Strategic Sectors): To position India as a global manufacturing hub, the budget focuses on 7 Strategic and Frontier Sectors:
- Biopharma SHAKTI: To position India as a global hub, the Government proposed the “Biopharma SHAKTI” (Strategy for Healthcare Advancement through Knowledge, Technology and Innovation) mission with an outlay of Rs 10,000 crore over five years to develop India as a global biopharma manufacturing centre.
- It focuses on biologics and biosimilars, supported by 3 new National Institutes of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPERs), upgradation of 7 existing institutes, and strengthening of CDSCO to global standards.
- India Semiconductor Mission 2.0: Building on ISM 1.0, the Union Budget 2026–27 announces India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) 2.0 to advance technological sovereignty.
- It focuses on manufacturing semiconductor equipment and materials and strengthening resilient supply chains, with industry-led R&D and training centres to create a skilled workforce critical for economic and national security.
- Electronics Components Manufacturing: The Electronics Components Manufacturing Scheme outlay is increased from Rs 22,919 crore to Rs 40,000 crore to deepen domestic value chains and boost electronics manufacturing.
- Rare Earth Corridors & Chemical Parks: The Budget proposes Rare Earth Corridors in Odisha, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu for mining, processing, and manufacturing of Rare Earth Permanent Magnets (REPM), along with three Chemical Parks under a cluster-based, plug-and-play model to reduce import dependence.
- Capital Goods & Container Manufacturing: The Budget announces Hi-Tech Tool Rooms by Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs), a Construction and Infrastructure Equipment (CIE) Scheme, and a Rs 10,000 crore Container Manufacturing Scheme to strengthen domestic capital goods and logistics manufacturing.
- Textile Sector Push: An Integrated Textile Programme comprising the National Fibre Scheme, Samarth 2.0, Tex-Eco Initiative, and cluster modernisation is launched, along with Mega Textile Parks to promote technical textiles and value addition.
- Gram Swaraj & Sports Goods: The Mahatma Gandhi Gram Swaraj initiative aims to strengthen khadi, handloom, and handicrafts, while a sports goods manufacturing initiative seeks to position India as a global hub for affordable, high-quality sports equipment.
- Rejuvenating Legacy Industrial Sectors: A Scheme to revive 200 legacy industrial clusters announced, to improve their cost competitiveness and efficiency through infrastructure and technology upgradation.
- Champion MSMEs: A dedicated Rs 10,000 crore “SME Growth Fund” will be launched to incentivize high-potential firms and create “Champion MSMEs” that can compete globally.
- The Self-Reliant India Fund will get an additional Rs 2,000 crore to continue supporting micro enterprises and ensure steady access to risk capital, with ‘Corporate Mitras’ envisioned as key enablers to mentor, guide, and integrate these enterprises into larger value chains.
- Infrastructure as “Growth Connectors”:
- High-Speed Rail: 7 High-Speed Rail corridors between cities – Mumbai-Pune, Pune-Hyderabad, Hyderabad-Bengaluru, Hyderabad-Chennai, Chennai-Bengaluru, Delhi-Varanasi, Varanasi- Siliguri will be developed as “Growth Connectors” to spur economic activity.
- Sustainable Movement of Cargo: To promote environmentally sustainable cargo movement, new Dedicated Freight Corridors will connect Dankuni to Surat, alongside the operationalisation of 20 National Waterways over the next five years.
- A Coastal Cargo Promotion Scheme will incentivise a shift from road and rail to waterways and coastal shipping to raise their share from 6% to 12% by 2047.
- The Seaplane VGF Scheme will support indigenised seaplane manufacturing and operations to improve last-mile connectivity and promote tourism.
- Infrastructure Risk Guarantee Fund: The Budget proposed an Infrastructure Risk Guarantee Fund to offer prudently calibrated partial credit guarantees to lenders during the infrastructure development and construction phase.
- City Economic Regions (CER): The Government proposed “City Economic Regions” (CERs), a new initiative to map cities based on specific growth drivers.
- An allocation of Rs 5,000 crore per CER over 5 years is proposed to be implemented via a “challenge mode.”
- Carbon Capture (CCUS): A scheme for Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage launched to decarbonize hard-to-abate sectors (Steel, Cement).
Second Kartavya: Fulfill Aspirations & Build Capacity
- AVGC Content Creator Labs: Recognizing the potential of the “Orange Economy”, the Government will support the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies, Mumbai, in setting up “Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics (AVGC) Content Creator Labs in 15,000 secondary schools and 500 colleges.
- National Institute of Hospitality: A proposal was made to set up this institute by upgrading the existing National Council for Hotel Management and Catering Technology, bridging the gap between academia and the tourism industry.
- Khelo India Mission: Building on the Khelo India programme, the Budget launches a Khelo India Mission to transform the sports sector through integrated talent development, coach capacity building, sports science integration, competitive leagues, and expanded sports infrastructure.
- Medical Value Tourism: The Government proposed establishing five Regional Medical Hubs in partnership with the private sector to boost India’s status as a wellness and medical tourism destination, with integrated facilities including AYUSH Centres, diagnostics, post-care, and rehabilitation services.
- Women in STEM: To support girl students in STEM, one girls’ hostel will be established in every district through Viability Gap Funding (VGF) or capital support.
Third Kartavya: Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas
- Bharat-VISTAAR: To revolutionize agriculture, the “Bharat-VISTAAR” (Virtually Integrated System to Access Agricultural Resources) tool will be launched.
- This multilingual AI platform will integrate AgriStack and ICAR data to provide customized advisory to farmers.
- SHE Marts: Building on the success of the “Lakhpati Didis”, community-owned retail outlets named “SHE Marts” (Self-Help Entrepreneur Marts) will be set up within cluster federations.
- Mental Health Infrastructure: Reaffirming its commitment, the Government announced the setting up of “NIMHANS-2” and proposed upgrading institutes in Ranchi and Tezpur to “Regional Apex Institutions”.
- Buddhist Circuits: A specific scheme will be launched to develop “Buddhist Circuits” in the North East Region (e.g., Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Assam, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura).
- East Coast Industrial Corridor: Proposed the development of an East Coast Industrial Corridor with a well-connected node at Durgapur (West Bengal), creation of five tourism destinations in five Purvodaya States.
- Divyangjan Support: Targeted efforts will be made to empower the differently-abled through schemes like “Divyang Sahara Yojana” (implied in welfare focus).
