Page 19 - Budget 2026

Budget 2026: Capex target will be raised to ₹12.2 trn for FY27, says FM

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday said the target for capex will be raised to Rs 12.2 lakh crore for FY27 from Rs 11.2 lakh crore earmarked for the current fiscal year and announced a slew of measures to boost infrastructure in the country. Presenting the Union Budget for 2026-27 in the Lok Sabha, she said the government will continue to develop infrastructure in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. The government also proposes to set up risk guarantee fund for infrastructure sector, she added. A scheme for enhancement for construction and infrastructure equipment will be introduced to strengthen domestic manufacturing, Sitharaman said. The government also proposes to support professional institutions like ICAI, ICSI to design short-term modular courses, she added.

Why Budget 2026 GDP and inflation numbers may change within weeks

Key GDP and inflation metrics will be revised in February as MoSPI updates base years, meaning several assumptions underpinning Budget 2026 will be recalculated soon after the speech

Union Budget 2026 bets ₹10,000 crore on domestic container manufacturing

Union Budget 2026 outlines a ₹10,000 crore scheme to build a globally competitive container manufacturing industry in India, while also supporting domestic production of construction and infrastructur

Budget 2026: Govt to roll out Semiconductor Mission 2.0 with ₹40,000 cr

Union Budget 2026: The government will launch India Semiconductor Mission 2.0 with an outlay of ₹40,000 crore to support chip equipment manufacturing, R&D and training

Budget 2026: Sitharaman lays 16th Finance Commission report in Lok Sabha

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday laid the 16th Finance Commission report for tax revenue devolution between Centre and states for 2026-2031 in the Lok Sabha. The Finance Commission, which has been set up under the Constitution, provides a formula for devolution of taxes between Centre and states. Cesses and surcharge levied by the Centre are not part of the divisible pool. The Finance Commission is a constitutional body that gives suggestions on Centre-state financial relations and is set up periodically. The 16th Finance Commission, headed by former Vice-Chairman of Niti Aayog Arvind Panagariya, was set up on December 31, 2023. Led by Panagariya, Finance Commission members -- Retired bureaucrat Annie George Mathew, economist Manoj Panda, SBI Group Chief Economic Advisor Soumya Kanti Ghosh, and RBI Deputy Governor T Rabi Sankar -- and Secretary to the Commission Ritvik Pandey submitted its report to President Droupadi Murmu on November 17, 2025.

Gold, silver retreat steeply from record highs before Budget 2026

Gold and silver futures opened sharply lower ahead of the Union Budget 2026, retreating steeply from record highs amid profit booking in domestic and international markets

Union Budget 2026: FM Sitharaman dons a Kanjeevaram saree from Tamil Nadu

Nirmala Sitharaman presents the Union Budget today, marking her ninth straight Budget; she continued her handloom tradition by wearing a maroon Kanjeevaram saree from Tamil Nadu

Longest serving FM, Sitharaman set to present 9th consecutive Budget

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday makes history as she presents a record ninth consecutive Budget that is expected to unveil measures to sustain growth momentum, maintain fiscal discipline, and contain reforms that could buffer the economy from global trade frictions, including US tariffs. This will take Sitharaman closer to the record of 10 budgets that were presented by former Prime Minister Morarji Desai over different time periods. Desai presented six budgets during his tenure as finance minister from 1959 to 1964, and four budgets between 1967 and 1969. Former finance ministers P Chidambaram and Pranab Mukherjee had presented nine and eight budgets, respectively, under different prime ministers. Sitharaman, however, will continue to hold the record of presenting the maximum number of budgets on the trot -- nine straight budgets under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. She was in 2019 appointed as India's first full-time woman finance minister when Prime Minister Narendr

Budget 2026: Key numbers to watch out for amid reform expectations

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present her record 9th straight Budget, and all eyes will be on the much-awaited customs reforms. Sitharaman had, in her first Budget in 2019, replaced the leather briefcase -- which had been in use for decades for carrying Budget documents -- with a traditional 'bahi-khata' wrapped in red cloth. This year's budget will be in paperless form, as done in the last four years. Here are the key numbers to watch out for in the Union Budget for 2026-27: * Fiscal Deficit: The budgeted fiscal deficit, which is the difference between the government expenditure and income, for the current fiscal (April 2025 to March 2026 or FY26), is estimated at 4.4 per cent of GDP. Having achieved a fiscal consolidation roadmap with a deficit below 4.5 per cent of GDP in FY26, markets will keenly watch for direction on debt-to-GDP reduction in the FY27 Budget, as well as whether the government will provide a specific fiscal deficit number for the next financial year.

FM Sitharaman meets President for customary pre-Budget presentation meeting

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday called on President Droupadi Murmu before presenting her record ninth Budget in the Lok Sabha. As per established tradition, the finance minister met the President at the Rashtrapati Bhavan before heading to Parliament. Before going to the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Sitharaman posed with her Budget team in front of her office at Kartavya Bhavan. Wearing a magenta silk saree, she was holding a tablet in a red pouch with the national emblem, along with the Minister of State and all six Secretaries in her ministry. Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Sitharaman, along with Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary and senior officials of the Ministry of Finance, called on the President at Rashtrapati Bhavan before presenting the Union Budget. Following the meeting, she headed for a Cabinet meeting that will formally approve the Budget for 2026-27. Sitharaman continues with the tradition she set in 2019, carrying the budget spee

Budget 2026 to focus on job growth, fiscal discipline amid global risks

This Budget is expected to outline higher spending on roads, ports and railways to maintain demand, create jobs and insulate the world's fastest growing major economy from external headwinds

Budget 2026: Is the Indian stock market open for trading on Sunday, Feb 1?

Despite it being a non-working day, trading will continue in the equity and commodity markets on account of presentation of Union Budget 2026

Budget, FASTag rules, tobacco prices: Key things to watch out for on Feb 1

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget in Parliament on the first day of the month

Budget 2026: What to expect on fiscal deficit, defence and infrastructure

The government is likely to aim for a fiscal deficit at 4.2 per cent of GDP for 2026-27, down from 4.4 per cent this fiscal year

Budget 2026 to focus on reforms as room for spending shrinks amid risks

To boost private investment and demand, govt has rolled out reforms in recent months, including income tax cuts, labour law overhauls and steps to open the tightly controlled nuclear power sector

Budget FY27: FM may unveil measures to steady growth, boost manufacturing

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will on February 1 present her ninth straight Budget, which is expected to unveil measures to sustain growth momentum, maintain fiscal discipline, and contain reforms that could buffer the economy from global trade frictions, including US tariffs. The presentation of the Budget for April 2026 to March 2027 fiscal (2026-27) will be on Sunday, a first in independent India's history. Sitharaman's sweeping income tax and GST cuts, together with spending on infrastructure and the RBI's interest rate reductions, have so far helped the Indian economy withstand the punitive 50 per cent tariff US President Donald Trump has imposed on Indian goods. But now, she has to come up with measures to sustain the momentum. The FY27 Budget comes against a complex backdrop. While domestic demand has held up and inflation has moderated from recent highs, global uncertainties - including geopolitical tensions, volatile commodity prices and uneven monetary easing by majo

Stock market to stay open on Sunday, February 1, for Union Budget 2026

The exchanges will conduct their pre-market operations between 9:00 AM and 9:08 AM, with the normal operations running from 9:15 AM to 3:30 PM

Poor coordination in policy making: Congress slams govt ahead of Budget

The Congress on Saturday questioned whether the Budget numbers would undergo revisions very soon after they are unveiled, as the new GDP and Consumer Price Index (CPI) series are to be released just days after the Budget, and said it reflects poorly on coordination in policy making. Congress general secretary in-charge of communications, Jairam Ramesh, noted the Budget for 2026/27 will be presented on Sunday. "State governments will be anxiously awaiting what awaits them since the Finance Minister will be announcing the implementation of the recommendations of the 16th Finance Commission," he said in a post on X. The Finance Commission is a body set up under Article 280 of the Constitution every five years (or earlier) to recommend the share of the states in the tax revenues collected by the Centre, the distribution of this share among the states, and special grants for five years, he said, adding that the 16th Finance Commission deals with the period 2026/27-2030/31. "But there

Union Budget FY27: When and where to watch Sitharaman's speech live

Sitharaman's Budget speech can be watched live on television, online platforms, and on the Business Standard website

FY27 growth forecast not contingent on US trade deal, says CEA Nageswaran

CEA V Anantha Nageswaran says industry cannot be protected forever, backs reforms for sustained 7% growth, and stresses innovation and exports as key to India's economic future