Union Budget 2026–27 | Key Announcements and Sectoral Reforms

theparliamentnews.com1 February 20260120 views

Union Budget 2026: Key Highlights

Strong Push for MSMEs: ₹10,000 crore allocation announced to strengthen MSMEs, boost credit access, innovation, and job creation.
Infrastructure Expansion: Proposal for 7 high-speed rail corridors to enhance connectivity, logistics efficiency, and regional growth.
Focus on ‘Viksit Bharat’: Budget aligned with long-term vision of a developed, self-reliant, and inclusive India.
Employment & Skilling: Emphasis on skill development, entrepreneurship, and support for youth-led enterprises.
Manufacturing & Make in India: Measures to promote domestic manufacturing, value addition, and global competitiveness.
Digital & Technology Growth: Continued thrust on digital public infrastructure, fintech, and technology-driven governance.
Green & Sustainable Development: Support for clean energy, climate action, and sustainable infrastructure.
People-Centric Approach: Policies aimed at inclusive growth, supporting farmers, women, startups, and the middle class.

Source: Sansad TV

Agriculture & Allied Sectors

Coconut Production Scheme to enhance productivity; similar proposals for cashew, cocoa, and sandalwood.
Support for fisheries and animal husbandry sectors.
Focus on northeast states to increase farmer incomes, empower divyangjan, and provide mental health and trauma care.
Launch of Bharat Vistar AI tool – multilingual AI platform integrating AgriStack and ICAR portals to support farmers.
She-Marts – community-owned retail outlets at cluster-level federations.

Disability & Social Welfare

Disability Pension for Armed Forces: Exemption on service and disability components for personnel invalided due to service-related disability.
Divyaang Sahara Yojana: Timely access to assistive devices for eligible divyangjan, modern retail-style centres, and scaled-up production.
NIMHANS 2.0: Upgrading mental health and trauma care institutes in Ranchi and Tezpur.

Sports & Youth

Launch of Khelo India Mission to train coaches, organize competitions, and set up leagues.

Tourism & Culture

Upgrade of National Institute of Hospitality.
Pilot scheme to upskill 10,000 tourist guides across 20 locations.
National Destination Digital Knowledge Grid for researchers and content creators.
Development of ecological trails (Himachal, Uttarakhand, J&K), turtle trails (Kerala, Odisha, Karnataka), bird-watching trails (Pulicat Lake).
Development of 15 archaeological sites.
Buddhist circuits development in Arunachal, Sikkim, Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, and Tripura.

Education & Creative Economy

Healthcare & Wellness

Support for Allied Health Practitioners and caregiver training.
Promotion of India as a hub for medical-value tourism through 5 regional medical hubs in partnership with private sectors.
Three new All India Institutes for Ayurveda; upgrades to AYUSH pharmacies and WHO traditional medicine center in Jamnagar.

Services & Technology

High-powered committee to develop service sector as a growth driver; assess AI and emerging technology impact on jobs.
Tax Holiday till 2047 for foreign cloud service providers using India-based data centers and reselling to Indian customers.

Finance & Taxation

Income Tax Act 2025 effective April 1, 2026.
Exemption of interest awarded by Motor Accident Claims Tribunal to natural persons; TDS removed.
Reduction of TCS for education and medical purposes: 5% → 2%.
Scheme for small taxpayers to get lower/nil deduction certificates automatically.
Extension for revising returns: Dec 31 → Mar 31 (nominal fee).
Staggered timelines for filing: ITR 1 & 2 till July 31; non-audit businesses/trusts till Aug 31.
Rationalization of penalties: Common assessment & penalty orders; no interest on penalty during first appeal; pre-payment reduced 20% → 10%; taxpayers can update returns after reassessment initiation.
One-time six-month foreign asset disclosure scheme for undeclared or partially declared overseas assets.
Removal of interest deduction against dividend and mutual fund income.
Capital gains exemption on Sovereign Gold Bonds only for original subscribers held till maturity.
Rationalization of share buybacks: taxed as capital gains; differential rates for promoters (22% domestic, 30% others).

Finance Commission & Key Numbers

Rs. 1.4 lakh crore allocated to states for 2026–27.
Debt-to-GDP ratio: 55.6% (BE 2026–27).
Fiscal Deficit: 4.3% of GDP (BE 2026–27).
Revised Estimates: Non-debt receipts Rs. 34 lakh crore; total expenditure Rs. 49.6 lakh crore.
Budget Estimates 2026–27: Non-debt receipts Rs. 36.5 lakh crore; total expenditure Rs. 53.5 lakh crore.

Infrastructure & Urban Development

City-economic regions (CERs) allocated Rs. 5,000 crore per CER over five years.
7 high-speed rail corridors as growth collectors: Mumbai–Pune, Pune–Hyderabad, Hyderabad–Bengaluru, Hyderabad–Chennai, Chennai–Bengaluru, Delhi–Varanasi, Varanasi–Siliguri.
Public capital expenditure: Rs. 12.2 lakh crore.
Infrastructure Risk Guarantee Fund; 20 new waterways; new freight corridors.
Ship-repair ecosystems in Varanasi and Patna.
Dedicated East Coast Industrial Corridor with node at Durgapur.

Industry & MSMEs

Three-pronged MSME support: Rs. 10,000 crore SME Growth Fund; Rs. 2,000 crore Self-Reliant India Fund top-up; liquidity via TREDS platform.
Professional institutes to design Corporate Mitra programs.
Scheme to revive 200 legacy industrial clusters.

Sector-specific Initiatives

Sports Goods sector development.
Labour-intensive textile sector: National Fiber Scheme, Samarth 2.0, textile expansion, mega-textile parks, Khadi/Handloom/Handicrafts strengthening.
Strong Capital Goods: High-tech toolrooms, construction & infrastructure equipment enhancement; container manufacturing Rs. 10,000 crore over 5 years.

Minerals & Electronics

Dedicated rare-earth corridors in Odisha, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu.
Semiconductor Mission 2.0; Electronics Components Manufacturing Scheme allocation Rs. 40,000 crore.

Environment

Ease of Doing Business