Union Budget

The Centre's fiscal deficit stood at Rs 12.52 lakh crore at the end of February, or 80.4 per cent of the annual budget target for 2025-26 compared to 85.8 per cent in the year-ago period, according to government data released on Monday. The central government estimates the fiscal deficit (the gap between expenditure and revenue) during 2025-26 at 4.4 per cent of GDP, or Rs 15.58 lakh crore. According to monthly accounts released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA), the Centre's total receipts stood at Rs 27.91 lakh crore, or 82 per cent of the budget target by February-end 2026. The receipts included Rs 21.45 lakh crore tax revenue (net) and Rs 5.8 lakh crore non-tax revenue. The CGA data showed that the central government's total expenditure during April-February 2025-26 stood at Rs 40.44 lakh crore, or 81.5 per cent of the full financial year budget target.

India's 2026 policy framework recognises the importance of urban growth, but falls short of offering a cohesive, data-driven national urbanisation strategy to guide planning and investment

Despite a push to fill vacancies through Rozgar Melas and recruitment drives, India's Union government workforce has barely grown in a decade, highlighting limits in hiring capacity

Economy expands 7.8% in Q3; manufacturing shines bright

The meeting will be attended by senior officials from the Finance Industry Development Council, Sa-Dhan and Microfinance Industry Network

The Congress on Sunday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's interview with PTI was "no interview" and claimed that it was a "carefully scripted" as well as "desperate PR exercise". Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh further alleged that, being "under siege and attack because of his surrender to the US on the trade deal", the prime minister is now resorting to his "favourite tactic" of headline management. "The PM knows that this year's Budget has been a damp squib and shows every sign of intellectual exhaustion. Markets have reacted negatively and investors have been unimpressed. Hence, he feels the need to give an interview a fortnight after the Budget was presented and a few days after it was taken apart by the Opposition in Parliament," Ramesh said. "As usual, there are Modi-style one-liners that mean little in reality," the Congress leader said. Ramesh claimed that Modi is trying to divert attention away from his "betrayal" of lakhs of farmers and

As Budget debate triggers sharp exchanges in Parliament, Sitharaman rebuts DMK charges while the Opposition considers a no-confidence motion against Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla

Both Houses of Parliament are scheduled to begin discussion on the Union Budget 2026-27 on Monday, which was presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1.FM Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2026-27 in Lok Sabha, for the ninth consecutive time. Asserting that the Budget is driven by "Yuvashakti" and based on "three kartavyas," she proposed seven high-speed rail corridors, new dedicated freight corridors, and the operationalisation of 20 national waterways over the next five years.The Centre also announced an increase in the Securities Transaction Tax (STT) on futures and options (F & O) to discourage speculative trading.While the NDA has welcomed the Budget, the Opposition alleged an exclusion of the marginalised communities. The Secular Progressive Alliance, led by the DMK in Tamil Nadu, has called a protest against the Budget on February 12.While the Houses are scheduled for general discussion on the Budget, the Opposition MPs are likely to demand a ...

India has made steady progress in consolidating earlier investments into a full-stack value chain of its semiconductor ecosystem under ISM 1.0

Budgetary support for PM Vishwakarma has been cut in FY27 even as banks process lakhs of artisan loan applications, raising questions on credit absorption and scheme scale-up

The most visible reform that affects all international travellers arriving in India and a pleasant surprise is the introduction of the Baggage Rules, 2026

Shailender Kumar, senior vice-president and regional managing director, Oracle India and NetSuite JAPAC talks about the recent Budget announcements and the India growth story

Credit reforms and Budget incentives aim to strengthen the MSME sector but persistent payment delays and global tariff uncertainties remain hurdles, reports Raghu Mohan

The key focus of the government's Rs 12.2 lakh crore capex for the next fiscal will be mainly on sectors like shipbuilding, national highways, railways, and metro train projects, Expenditure Secretary V Vualnam said. The government has budgeted total expenditure in 2026-27 at over Rs 53.47 lakh crore, of which about Rs 12.22 lakh crore is projected to be the capital expenditure, meaning it would be spent on building physical infrastructure. In a post-Budget interview to PTI, Vualnam said the sectors, which have huge ongoing and new projects, like the national highways, railways, and the urban sector, to the extent of metro train projects, will continue to dominate the government public capex spending in the next fiscal. "Shipbuilding has become an infrastructure sector, and will also now be a big player. We are very keen to improve our share in shipbuilding (globally). Of India's import-export cargo, just about 5 per cent goes on India-owned ships. About Rs 6 lakh crore (annually) i

The proposed safe harbour regime for component warehousing linked to manufacturing may offer multinationals a globally competitive tax outcome and greater certainty on transfer pricing

New tax certainty rules for foreign cloud firms aim to prevent disputes on permanent establishment and global income, boosting confidence in India's fast-growing data centre ecosystem

Power Finance Corporation's board has approved an in-principle merger with subsidiary REC Ltd, following the government's Budget push to restructure public sector NBFCs

The government has received financial bids for IDBI Bank's strategic disinvestment, a key transaction as it targets ₹80,000 crore from disinvestment and asset monetisation in FY27

The Budget gives us a clear image of inclusion at work. What it does not yet show is whether inclusion is meant to extend beyond the desk

It is useful to remember that the miracle economies to our East, the so-called Asian Tigers, sustained high growth for decades by following prudent fiscal policies