Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget 2026–27 in the Lok Sabha today. Following its presentation in the Lower House, the Budget will also be tabled in the Rajya Sabha. This will be the third Union Budget of the Narendra Modi government in its third term.
Mr. Masaharu Morita, Founder and Program Director, NURA - Ai Health Screening Centre
"The Union Budget 2026 places longevity and chronic disease management at the centre of India's healthcare and life sciences agenda. The ₹10,000-crore Biopharma Shakti initiative recognises the growing burden of non-communicable diseases and the need to scale investments in biologics, diagnostics, early screening and clinical research. This marks a clear shift from episodic care to long-term health management, with prevention and quality of life as core priorities. Equally significant is the Budget's focus on accelerating AI adoption across healthcare, education and research. By integrating life sciences with AI-enabled screening, clinical decision-making and talent development, the government is laying the foundation for a future-ready healthcare ecosystem one that supports healthier, longer lives and strengthens India's position as a global hub for healthcare innovation"
Sameer Kanodia, Managing Director and CEO of Lumina Datamatics Limited
"Union Budget 2026 delivers a clear and confident roadmap for strengthening India's services sector and reinforcing its global competitiveness. The proposal to set up a high-powered Education-to-Employment and Enterprise Standing Committee reflects a long-term vision to align skills, knowledge creation, and employment outcomes, positioning services as a central driver of economic growth and exports.
Equally significant are the reforms announced for the IT and services ecosystem. The move to bring all IT services under a single safe harbour framework, along with higher thresholds and automated approvals, enhances predictability and ease of doing business for globally integrated service providers. This clarity is essential for organisations operating across education, publishing, and knowledge services, where scale, compliance, and long-term partnerships are critical.
Aligned with industry expectations, the Budget's focus on optimising services-led growth, enabling global delivery from India, and strengthening institutional frameworks lays a strong foundation for sustainable expansion. By prioritising workforce readiness, export potential, and regulatory stability, Budget 2026 charts a decisive path towards cementing India's position as a trusted global hub for high-value services and knowledge-led enterprises."
Union Budget Reaction Quote from Ms. Priya Rustogi, Leader (Managing Director), India, LIXIL IMEA
The Union Budget 2026 signals India's strong commitment to large-scale infrastructure, urban expansion, and domestic manufacturing- aligning closely with LIXIL's long-term investment and manufacturing strategy in India.
The record ₹12.2 lakh crore public capex, focused on high-speed rail, freight corridors, and urban development in Tier II/III cities, will drive construction in housing, hospitality, commercial, and public projects- redefining quality living spaces across the country.
Key enablers include the Infrastructure Risk Guarantee Fund to boost private developer confidence and accelerate project delivery, plus dedicated REITs to recycle CPSE real estate assets for redevelopment and modernization. These steps shift from sporadic builds to sustained, high-quality urban growth, elevating design integrity, water efficiency, and performance as standard expectations.
GROHE's water-efficient bathroom and kitchen solutions are ideally positioned for this urban evolution, delivering premium experiences while prioritizing resource conservation in denser cities.
The ₹10,000 crore SME Growth Fund, ₹2,000 crore top-up to the Self Reliant India Fund, and mandatory TReDS for CPSE procurement strengthen MSME supply chains- enhancing predictability and resilience for partners in our manufacturing network.
The ₹20,000 crore allocation for Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage underscores sustainability's role in future infrastructure. This resonates with LIXIL's emphasis on water efficiency and responsible practices, enabling GROHE to contribute meaningfully to India's green urban growth.
When we look at this Budget through the lens of the marketing industry, the message is clear that artificial intelligence is no longer a future tool but a present-day growth engine. The decision to increase funding for AI-powered, industry-linked labs in Tier 2 and Tier 3 institutions is especially important because it expands the talent and innovation base beyond metros and brings applied intelligence closer to real business problems. For marketing, where content, consumer insight, and automation now depend heavily on data and machine learning, this creates a stronger pipeline of skills and solutions. The formation of a standing committee to study the impact of emerging technologies on jobs also reflects a balanced approach that recognises both opportunity and responsibility. With sustained support through national AI and research missions, India has a chance to build a marketing ecosystem that is smarter, more export-ready, and globally competitive while remaining inclusive and future-facing.-- said Mr. Dinakar Menon, Managing Partner and Business Head of BigTrunk Communications
Nikkhil K. Masurkar, CEO, ENTOD Pharmaceuticals
The Union Budget 2026 reinforces healthcare and biopharma as India's strategic growth pillars, with the ₹10,000-crore Biopharma Shakti programme landmark for boosting domestic biologics/biosimilars manufacturing amid rising cancer, diabetes, and autoimmune burdens. Over 1,000 new clinical trial sites, NIPER upgrades, and CDSCO global-standard strengthening will enhance research depth, regulatory robustness, and competitiveness.
Patient-centric wins include duty exemptions on lifesaving cancer/rare-disease drugs for immediate relief, plus medical value tourism, mental health infrastructure, allied workforce skilling, and digital integration for holistic delivery. From an industry and MSME perspective, while the overall direction is strongly positive, there remains an opportunity to further catalyse innovation.
Expanding allocations under the PRIP framework and reinstating a 200% weighted R&D tax deduction for in-house pharmaceutical research would significantly accelerate private-sector investment in high-risk areas such as biologics, biosimilars, novel drug delivery systems and complex therapies.
Overall, Budget 2026 builds a solid foundation for affordable, innovation-led healthcare, positioning India for global biopharma leadership.
Mr Deepak Sharma, Co-founder & CEO of MedLern
The Union Budget 2026–27 demonstrates a strong commitment to India's healthcare and services ecosystem by centering skilling, institutional capacity-building, and employment on NSQF, aligned programs to train 1.5 lakh multi-skilled caregivers, directly tackling workforce shortages in geriatric, palliative, and allied care amid a rapidly aging population. Equally strategic is the High-Powered 'Education to Employment and Enterprise' Standing Committee for services, bridging academic curricula with AI-driven tools, digital health platforms, and real-world demands to propel India toward global services leadership.
This talent foundation extends to the proposed clinical research sites, which introduce specialized roles to grow India's talent pool, accelerate new drug market entry, and cement the nation as a life sciences innovation hub, while new Ayush AIIMS centers elevate the credibility, reach, and global impact of India's holistic treatment strengths.
Strengthened professional institutions, industry-led research/training centers, and 'corporate mitras' for compliance, targeted at Tier II/III cities, unlock inclusive talent pipelines, enabling seamless transitions from training to deployment in home care, diagnostics, and telemedicine. These pair powerfully with five regional medical hubs and integrated infrastructure expansions, ensuring skilled professionals span the care continuum from preventive wellness to advanced treatments. Overall, this fiscal prudence fused with human capital investment forges a resilient, efficient, and competitive healthcare services ecosystem primed for scalable excellence.
Mr. Madhusudhan HK, Country Manager of Aerolase
The Union Budget 2026 lays a strong foundation for India's med-tech sector growth, directly benefiting patients, providers, and the healthcare ecosystem by making global-level technological solutions accessible through rationalized import duties on advanced medical devices, applauding alongside the price reductions for importing 17 key medicines, including those for cancer and diabetes. These duty cuts, coupled with support for domestic manufacturing and exports, enable clinics to deploy cutting-edge lasers and diagnostics affordably, while streamlined regulations accelerate approvals for innovations like Aerolase's high-power aesthetic systems. Incentives for technology adoption and clinical training empower seamless integration, enhancing precision in dermatology, pain management, and chronic care, as infrastructure scales nationwide. Overall, these measures drive efficient, accessible care, fuel a robust med-tech industry, and position India as a global health innovation hub.
Mr. Harinder Singh, Managing Director & CEO, Yokohama India Pvt. Ltd. said, "The Union Budget's continued emphasis on manufacturing depth, infrastructure expansion, critical mineral ecosystems and clean energy value chains sends a strong and progressive signal for India's industrial future. Enhanced support for electronic components manufacturing, battery storage, lithium-ion cells and critical minerals creates long-term policy visibility for EV platform localisation, battery assembly and advanced power electronics manufacturing, thereby strengthening investment confidence across emerging mobility ecosystems.
For the tyre industry and the broader automotive sector, sustained capital expenditure of ₹12.2 lakh crore, expansion of highways, freight corridors, ports and multimodal logistics networks will significantly improve supply chain resilience, logistics efficiency and last-mile connectivity. Improved infrastructure access across Tier-II and Tier-III markets further enhances market reach and demand potential.
Additionally, customs duty rationalisation and exemptions on select capital goods and advanced components help improve cost competitiveness by lowering initial capex and operational costs for high-technology manufacturing investments in India.
At Yokohama India, where we continue to expand our domestic production footprint with a strong focus on localisation, sustainability and high value-added products, this policy direction reinforces confidence to accelerate investments in capacity, technology and next-generation manufacturing aligned with India's long-term growth trajectory."
Aniruddha Mehta, Chairman and Managing Director, Umiya Buildcon Ltd said:
"Budget 2026 reinforces that stability, predictability and execution clarity are central to sustainable growth in the real estate sector. The continued focus on infrastructure development, streamlined approvals and policy continuity directly supports faster project execution and improved cash flow visibility for developers. With renewed emphasis on affordable housing and infrastructure-led growth, alongside a sharper focus on Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities, the sector is set to benefit from more balanced and scalable urban expansion.
Measures such as the Infrastructure Risk Guarantee Fund and proactive asset monetisation are expected to ease financing constraints, improve access to capital and reduce risk for large-scale developments. The launch of SWAMIH Fund 2, a ₹15,000 crore blended finance facility to complete one lakh stalled housing units, is particularly significant in addressing legacy stress, unlocking stuck capital and restoring project viability, building on the outcomes of SWAMIH Fund 1. Continued tax incentives for home buyers, including the extension of nil annual value benefits to two self-occupied properties, should further support demand and sales momentum.
Taken together, these measures strengthen developer confidence, improve execution certainty and reinforce real estate's role as a key enabler of urban infrastructure, housing delivery and long-term economic growth."
Group Capt. C.S. Krishnadas, Chief Executive Officer, Umiya Buildcon said:
"The Union Budget 2026–27 marks a decisive shift from signalling intent to enabling execution in India's digital and telecom infrastructure journey. With overall capital expenditure raised to ₹12.2 lakh crore, an 8.8% increase year-on-year, the government has reaffirmed infrastructure—both physical and digital—as the foundation for a 'Viksit Bharat'. The continued prioritisation of telecom networks, broadband expansion, and data-led infrastructure provides long-term visibility and confidence for the sector.
The recognition of artificial intelligence as core digital infrastructure, alongside a sharper focus on data centres, cloud ecosystems, and next-generation networks, reflects a forward-looking approach to connectivity-led growth. Equally significant is the enhanced outlay of ₹40,000 crore under the Electronic Components Manufacturing Scheme, which signals a clear move toward deeper localisation and value creation beyond assembly, thereby strengthening India's telecom manufacturing supply chain. Sustained support for national connectivity programmes such as BharatNet, along with continued investments in the revival of public sector telecom operators including BSNL and MTNL, will accelerate rural broadband penetration and the modernisation of mission-critical networks.
As India crosses 400 million 5G users, the emphasis on increasing tower density, fibreisation, and R&D for 5G evolution and 6G technologies is timely and essential. Overall, the Budget provides policy continuity, scale, and strategic direction for telecom infrastructure, indigenous manufacturing, and secure networks. It creates an enabling environment for Indian companies to invest in future-ready technologies, strengthen public digital infrastructure, and support India's emergence as a global hub for telecom equipment manufacturing and exports"
Key takeaways from Madan Sabnavis, Chief Economist, Bank of Baroda on the Union Budget
"The Union Budget has delivered good fiscal numbers while providing targeted incentives in critical areas. There has been steadfastness showed in terms of lowering the debt to GDP ratio and the fiscal deficit ratio will be marginally lower than last year at 4.3%. More importantly the gross and net borrowing programmes have been maintained almost at last year's level which should assuage bond markets as bond yields should remain stable. This will also throw open the window to RBI to take a call on repo rate without having to worry about the borrowing programmes.
A boost has been provided to capex with an outlay of Rs 12.2 lkh crore which is higher than Rs 11.1 lkh crore last year. This should help to being in private investment too especially in the infra space. The tax cuts of last year are still playing though the system and should encourage private investment in the consumer goods space. It may be hoped that with the overall policy thrust given in this budget, the flow of private investment will speed up.
Given the external environment relating to tariffs being uncertain, the budget has laid specific emphasis on creating champions in MSMEs. Further to move towards self sufficiency in rare earths, there are specific allocations made here. Besides these allocations, the focus on education and health have also been emphasized. The government has also focussed on easing the tax payment processes which would be taken positively by the market."
Madhur Kumar, Chief General Manager – MSME Banking, Co-Lending, and Supply Chain Finance, Bank of Baroda, on the Union Budget 2026:
"Union Budget 2026 signals a clear shift toward structural strengthening of MSME financing, with banks placed at the centre of execution. The most significant intervention is the deepening of TReDS, including mandatory routing of CPSE MSME payments and enhanced credit guarantees for invoice discounting.
From a banking perspective, this improves cash-flow visibility, shortens working-capital cycles, and enables safer, receivable-backed lending rather than collateral-heavy approaches.
Also the proposed ₹10,000 crore SME Growth Fund complements traditional bank credit by addressing the equity gap for scalable MSMEs. This is positive for banks as better-capitalised enterprises typically demonstrate stronger repayment capacity and lower credit risk, creating opportunities for long-term lending and cross-sell. Expanded credit guarantee coverage further strengthens lender confidence, particularly for micro and small enterprises, supporting both growth and priority sector objectives.
The Budget also reinforces data-led credit delivery, with integration across platforms such as GeM, GST, and TReDS, allowing banks to sharpen underwriting, pricing, and early-warning mechanisms. Overall, Budget 2026 moves MSME banking from volume-driven lending to cash-flow-based, digitally enabled, and risk-calibrated financing, while placing strong emphasis on formalisation, resilience, and sustainable growth of the MSME ecosystem."
Ramki Gaddipati, CEO APAC and Global CTO, Zeta, on the Union Budget:
"The proposed High-Level Committee on Banking for Viksit Bharat is a welcome step as it recognises a reality banks are already living with, that financial stability, consumer protection and technology resilience are inseparable. As banking operates at real-time, population scale, core architecture, cyber resilience and AI governance are now systemic priorities. With public sector banks on stronger balance sheets, this is a moment where governance and technology led reform is not just necessary, but achievable. The real test will be whether this intent translates into coordinated frameworks that strengthen the system as a whole.
The Budget's push to strengthen domestic cloud and data-centre infrastructure is timely. In real-time banking, infrastructure choices are no longer neutral, they shape risk and trust.
The articulated vision for NBFCs, particularly its emphasis on credit expansion and technology-led efficiency, is also encouraging. As credit deepens through non-bank channels, scalable and transparent technology platforms will be essential to ensure resilience, accountability and responsible growth.
Recognising AI beyond productivity is encouraging. But as AI becomes foundational to fraud prevention, risk management and compliance, adoption alone will not suffice. What will matter is building robust governance frameworks, strong data foundations, and operational resilience to deploy AI safely at scale, without compromising trust."
Rajat Tandon, President, IVCA, said, "We congratulate the Hon'ble Finance Minister on presenting a forward-looking and futuristic Budget, which reinforces India's position as a safe haven for long-term investments. The Budget underscores a sustained focus on execution-led growth, with clear momentum across infrastructure and MSMEs. Measures spanning sunrise sectors, including data centres, expand the opportunity landscape, particularly across infrastructure, research- and innovation-led sectors such as deep tech and defence, while also supporting employment generation across healthcare, manufacturing, sports and tourism. The emphasis on de-risking mechanisms like the Infrastructure Risk Guarantee Scheme, alongside support for semiconductors, textile and chemical parks, rare earth ecosystems and freight corridors, strengthens the foundation for private participation at scale. Initiatives such as the SME Growth Fund and steps to deepen TReDS further recognise the role of equity and market-based liquidity solutions in building resilient enterprises. As implementation gathers pace, sustained mobilisation of long-term domestic capital will be critical to anchoring India's next phase of growth."
Srini Sriniwasan, Managing Director, Kotak Alternate Asset Managers Limited, and Vice Chairperson, IVCA, said:
"The continued emphasis on public capital expenditure, alongside the proposal to set up an Infrastructure Risk Guarantee Fund, signals a clear intent to de-risk project execution and crowd in private participation during the construction phase. Partial credit guarantees can play a meaningful role in improving risk allocation and financing confidence, particularly for long-gestation infrastructure assets. The measures announced to strengthen the corporate bond market further complement this direction by deepening market-based financing avenues. As India's infrastructure pipeline expands, greater use of structured private capital—across equity and credit—will be important to complement public investment and support timely delivery at scale."
Siddarth Pai, Founding Partner, 3one4 Capital & Co-Chair Regulatory Affairs Committee, IVCA said, "Budget 2026 focused on removing artificial distortions in the law and making tax administration and taxation easier for taxpayers. A major win is the rationalization of buyback taxation. The previous buyback regime introduced in 2024 treated all gains from buybacks as dividend income, with the corresponding acquisition cost being treated as a capital loss. This distorted the true nature of buybacks and lead to a compliance burden for shareholders.
The change to treat buyback income as capital gains is welcomed by all. However, the devil in the details lies in how promoters are treated during a buyback. The definition of a promoter is similar to SEBI and the Companies Act, 2013, but also includes shareholders holding more than 10% of the Company. Their buyback gains are taxed at 22% for corporates and at 30% for non-corporates. The focus on infra spending and the tax holiday for data centers until 2047 will help long term capital formation in this critical area. Furthermore, the emphasis on MSME funding through the new 10,000Cr Growth Fund and the top up of 2,000Cr for SRI Fund will help make out MSMEs competitive globally. The reduction of cost of capital is critical to growth."
Rajat Tandon, President, IVCA, said, "We congratulate the Hon'ble Finance Minister on presenting a forward-looking and futuristic Budget, which reinforces India's position as a safe haven for long-term investments. The Budget underscores a sustained focus on execution-led growth, with clear momentum across infrastructure and MSMEs. Measures spanning sunrise sectors, including data centres, expand the opportunity landscape, particularly across infrastructure, research- and innovation-led sectors such as deep tech and defence, while also supporting employment generation across healthcare, manufacturing, sports and tourism. The emphasis on de-risking mechanisms like the Infrastructure Risk Guarantee Scheme, alongside support for semiconductors, textile and chemical parks, rare earth ecosystems and freight corridors, strengthens the foundation for private participation at scale. Initiatives such as the SME Growth Fund and steps to deepen TReDS further recognise the role of equity and market-based liquidity solutions in building resilient enterprises. As implementation gathers pace, sustained mobilisation of long-term domestic capital will be critical to anchoring India's next phase of growth."
