Budget 2026 Live Updates: Narasimha Jayakumar, CEO, Elevate Campuses Limited, said, "Education is the foundation of national progress, and the Union Budget’s focus on higher education and education infrastructure is a step in the right direction. Elevate Campuses is addressing India’s shortage of professionally managed student housing by building inclusive, high-quality learning and living ecosystems. The proposal to develop five university townships along industrial corridors is timely and will strengthen large-scale, outcome-driven education ecosystems."

Reacting to the Union Budget 2026–27, fintech sector leaders highlighted its positive impact on consumers, MSMEs and digital payments.

Kumar Binit, CEO, airpay money, said, "The Union Budget 2026–27 brings meaningful relief for the working population by simplifying personal taxation and reducing friction in everyday financial decisions. Measures such as lower TCS on education, medical expenses and travel, along with easier tax compliance, directly improve cash flows for salaried individuals and middle-class households. A clearer and more predictable tax framework will help consumers plan better, spend with confidence, and engage more actively with India’s digital financial ecosystem."

Kunal Jhunjhunwala, Founder, airpay, said, "The Union Budget 2026-27 establishes two important business guidelines that will create stable regulatory conditions for MSMEs operating in India's digital payments and fintech sector. The ₹10,000 crore MSME Growth Fund, together with digital infrastructure development and formal credit access initiatives, demonstrates a regulatory framework that enables business growth while maintaining public trust. The project requires successful implementation through three essential elements: prompt distribution of financial resources, straightforward qualification requirements, and stronger partnerships with licensed financial technology companies. Combining transaction data with digital payment records enables businesses to obtain credit through an efficient risk assessment process, thereby improving their ability to reach remote customers. The successful implementation of this budget will yield three positive outcomes: protecting MSMEs from economic challenges, creating new job opportunities, and increasing workforce participation in India's formal digital market."

Budget 2026 Live Updates: Anantha Keerthi, Senior Partner, Vector Consulting Group, said, "For the financial year 2026–27, the government has proposed increasing capital expenditure on infrastructure to ₹12.2 lakh crore, reinforcing the momentum built over recent years. This underscores infrastructure’s central role in India’s growth and development strategy. However, persistent challenges remain, as higher allocations alone do not automatically resolve cost and schedule overruns. The real test will be whether this increased outlay translates into stronger upfront project design and more robust Detailed Project Reports (DPRs)."

"Most large infrastructure projects in India experience 55%–60% cost overruns and 30%–70% time overruns, largely stemming from weak early-stage planning, particularly inadequate DPRs. A portion of the budget must therefore be explicitly directed toward rigorous pre-construction planning. High-quality DPRs reduce delays, rework, and disputes, unlocking significant savings and enabling the country to build more infrastructure with the same resources. Strengthening investment in pre-construction activities can play a pivotal role in improving timelines, coordination, and long-term project performance," he added.

On pharma sector, Chandrachur Datta, Partner, Vector Consulting Group, said, “The ₹10,000 crore BioPharma SHAKTI allocation marks a clear shift from scale-at-speed to scale-with-complexity in India’s pharmaceutical sector. The renewed focus on GMP compliance, advanced biologics, and clinical research establishes stricter requirements for manufacturing operations, regulatory readiness, and supply chain system integration. Organizations can now develop resilient facilities, specialized equipment, and operational models because multi-year policy certainty enables them to make those commitments. India now possesses enhanced capabilities to execute complex biopharma programs through this development, enabling delivery at international standards.”

On textile and garment sector, P Senthilkumar, who is as also a senior partner at Vector Consulting Group, said, "Budget 2026–27 signals a clear move to structurally strengthen India’s textile and garment sector amid ongoing global price competition and export volatility. The initiatives will enhance productivity through three core elements: fibre self-reliance, modernisation of traditional clusters, Samarth 2.0 skilling programs, and the operation of mega textile parks. The government demonstrates its commitment to boosting exports through a budget allocation of ₹10,000 crore, which will create new job opportunities. The implementation of these actions requires an export policy system that delivers consistent results, alongside swift trade deal development and permanent labour law changes, to enable exporters to maintain their profit margins and customer base while achieving growth through job creation."

Budget 2026 Live Updates: On 2026-27 Budget, Anjana Ghosh, MD, Scale Sherpas, said, "Budget 2026 sends a strong signal toward employment generation, technology-led growth, and support for labour-intensive sectors, priorities that directly benefit FMCG and consumption-driven industries. The focus on AI missions, skilling, and the Education-to-Employment initiative will strengthen frontline productivity and formal workforce models across sales and distribution. Investments in manufacturing, logistics, and services will further enable faster and more efficient General Trade expansion. The push to promote women entrepreneurs creates a meaningful opportunity for more women-led businesses to scale sustainably across India."

Budget 2026 Live Updates: Sundeep Mohindru, Founder & Promoter, M1xchange, said, “The Budget’s decisive push to create CHAMPION SMEs by giving equity support and by anchoring liquidity access through the TReDS ecosystem marks a structural shift in how working capital flows to MSMEs. By positioning TReDS as the settlement platform for liquidity support for MSMEs for their supplies to CPSEs, the government encourages wider participation in invoice discounting. This re-establishes the value add TReDS is making towards solving the delayed payment challenge for MSMEs. Credit guarantee support on Invoice discounting on TReDS and the integration of GeM with TReDS will enable quicker and more affordable financing for suppliers. Treating TReDS receivables as asset backed securities will deepen liquidity multifold and enhance the secondary market expansion for invoices discounted . Equally critical is the creation of corporate mitras through professional institutions, which will strengthen affordable compliance support in Tier 2 and Tier 3 towns. Together, these measures reinforce MSMEs as India’s engine of growth.”

Budget 2026 Live Updates: Sameer Kanodia, Managing Director and CEO of Lumina Datamatics, said, "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."

Reacting to Budget 2026-27, healthcare industry leaders praised the government for strengthening the sector.

Dr Manika Khanna, CEO and Founder, Gaudium IVF, said, "The Union Budget 2026–27 takes a meaningful step towards building a future ready healthcare ecosystem. The upgradation of allied health professional institutions and the addition of one lakh trained professionals over the next five years will strengthen clinical delivery, diagnostics and patient outcomes. Equally important is the government’s strong emphasis on emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence through national missions, which can significantly improve precision driven care in areas like reproductive medicine. Tourism has also been given a major boost, with medical tourism emerging as a critical sector supported through policy measures. By combining skilled workforce development, technology led innovation, and initiatives promoting medical tourism, the budget lays the foundation for accessible, high quality and inclusive healthcare growth."

Dr Ankit Gupta, Managing Director, Park Medi World, said, "The Union Budget 2026 presents a comprehensive roadmap for strengthening India’s healthcare ecosystem at a time when the country’s disease burden is shifting towards non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and autoimmune disorders, alongside a rapidly ageing population. The proposed addition of one lakh allied health professionals will help bridge workforce gaps across hospitals, rehabilitation centres, and community-based care settings. This is complemented by plans to train 1.5 lakh caregivers through NSQF-aligned, multi-skilled programmes, strengthening long-term, elderly, and post-acute care services."

"The establishment of five regional medical tourism hubs in partnership with the private sector reinforces India’s ambition to emerge as a preferred global healthcare destination. For hospital networks such as Park Hospitals, these initiatives create meaningful opportunities to scale specialised allied services, strengthen geriatric and rehabilitation care, and contribute to medical value tourism aligned with national healthcare priorities," he added.

Sameer Merchant, CEO & MD, Laxmi Dental, said, "The Union Budget 2026 lays a strong foundation for strengthening healthcare outcomes by focusing on workforce development, regional medical infrastructure, and expanded preventive and treatment capacities. Proposals such as the training of 1.5 lakh caregivers, the creation of regional medical hubs, and the proposed investment of ₹10,000 crore in biopharma will help strengthen capacity across prevention, treatment, and research, reflecting a thoughtful approach to improving access, quality, and resilience across the healthcare ecosystem. These measures are particularly relevant for specialised healthcare segments that depend on skilled professionals and robust institutional capacity. By strengthening human resources and facility capabilities, the Budget supports more balanced healthcare access beyond metropolitan centres and contributes to building a more inclusive and future-ready healthcare system. This creates a supportive environment for organisations focused on preventive care, clinical excellence, and patient-centric delivery to contribute meaningfully to improved health outcomes and long-term system resilience."

Budget 2026 Live Updates: With Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's emphasis on expanding the Lakhpati Didi programme in 2026-27 Budget, Anand Kumar Bajaj, Founder, MD & CEO, PayNearby, said, "The expansion of the Lakhpati Didi programme reflects a clear policy shift from livelihood support to enterprise ownership for women. This marks a forward-looking step and stresses the Government’s focus of creating diversified non-agricultural livelihood programs for women at the last mile. We believe such measures are essential to build shock-proof communities and build a more resilient nation. When women have access to innovative financial instruments, the impact is beyond income generation and contributes to long-term economic security. This direction aligns closely with our Digital Naari mission of equipping women with digital, financial, and business capabilities, and we are keen to contribute to building women led local economies and sustained income pathways."

Budget 2026 Live Updates: Siddhartha Sagar, Director, Avantel Limited, said, “The Union Budget 2026 strongly reinforces India’s push toward innovation-led and self-reliant growth across pharma, technology, manufacturing, defence and aviation. The focused support for biopharma, deep tech, semiconductors and AI ecosystems, along with continued incentives for domestic manufacturing and defence and aerospace capability building, creates a strong foundation for long-term value creation. These measures are expected to accelerate indigenous technology development, strengthen supply chains and open new high-value opportunities."

Budget 2026 Live Updates: On 2026-27 Budget, NS Venkatesh, CEO, Bharat InvITs Association, said, "We welcome the Union Budget 2026 and the government's sustained focus for growth through infrastructure. The planned growth in public capital spending to ₹12.2 lakh crore in FY27, with the focus on funding urban infrastructure through tools like InvITs and REITs and organizations like NIIF and NaBFID, shows that the government has strong long-term policy goals. The focus on cities with populations above five lakh, including tier-2 and tier-3 cities, will help deepen the pipeline of mature, revenue-generating infrastructure assets.

"For investors, this translates into better-quality assets, enhanced cash flow visibility, and a more predictable long-term investment offer through InvITs. Such policy continuity is essential for sustaining long-term capital participation in India’s infrastructure ecosystem. The path towards fiscal deficit management and keeping the Government borrowings within the manageable level will ensure non crowding out of the private sector from the borrowing space. This will in turn enable the private sector to borrow and invest in long term infrastructure assets," he added.

Budget 2026 Live Updates: A day after the budget announcement, rupee rose 18 paise to 91.75 against US dollar in early trade on Monday, February 2.

Budget 2026 Live Updates: "The long-term strategy of the budget remained focused on harnessing the demographic dividends and achieve the true potential of the economy. The Budget maintained the momentum of structural reforms with a forward-looking approach, build a financial sector that was robust and resilient and use technology, including AI, to achieve productivity, " Yes Bank Managing Director and CEO, Prashant Kumar, said.

Budget 2026 Live Updates: Speaking on Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Microsoft India & South Asia President, Puneet Chandok, said, "We welcome the government's vision articulated in the Union Budget 2026, which places AI, services, and digital infrastructure at the centre of India's Viksit Bharat journey. The Budget clearly recognises that technology led, AI- driven growth will be critical to sustaining India's economic momentum in the years ahead."

Budget 2026 Live Updates: "A bold Budget that combines growth with inclusion. The strong emphasis on skilling, alongside sustained investments in science, innovation, and research are timely & will strengthen domestic capabilities, advancing import substitution in critical sectors. Bolstering infrastructure and logistics, with a focus on energy efficiency and impetus for the data centre ecosystem, will further reinforce confidence in our burgeoning digital economy," Bharti Enterprises Founder & Chairman, Sunil Bharti Mittal, said.

Budget 2026 Live Updates: "This budget gives all the right signals; it's a supply side based budget which aims to make it easy for people to file taxes, to do business," said Rishi Shah from Grant Thornton Bharat.

Budget 2026 Live Updates: The government on Sunday, February 1, proposed to develop 15 archaeological sites, including Lothal and Leh Palace, into "vibrant cultural destinations", and establish a National Destination Digital Knowledge Grid to digitally document all places of significance across the country, including cultural and spiritual sites.

Budget 2026 Live Updates: Industry and trade bodies in Madhya Pradesh, including representatives of disadvantaged sections, on Sunday hailed the Union Budget as pragmatic, stating that its provisions would boost economic and rural growth.

However, soybean processors called for greater policy focus on the crop, as Madhya Pradesh remains India's largest soybean-producing state.

Budget 2026 Live Updates: Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) firms on Sunday, February 1, hailed the Union Budget for FY27, saying its thrust on public investment, manufacturing scale-up, MSME support, agriculture and fiscal consolidation will strengthen domestic supply chains and boost consumption-led growth.

Budget 2026 Live Updates: The Central government expects ₹3.16 lakh crore in dividends and surpluses from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), nationalised banks, and financial institutions in 2026-27, up about 3.75% over the current fiscal.

Budget 2026 Live Updates: Urvish Rambhia, CEO of Horizon Industrial Parks, said, "We see improved connectivity, expanding industrial corridors and higher state-led infrastructure spending will naturally accelerate demand for Grade-A, large-format warehouses and integrated logistics parks across key corridors and emerging tier-2 and tier-3 markets."

He added, "Union Budget 2026-27 continues emphasis on infrastructure as a growth engine, while seeking to enhance domestic manufacturing capabilities and attract international investments to Make in India for the world. Alongside the focus on scaling manufacturing, rejuvenating legacy sectors, clusters and developing city economic regions, this creates sustained momentum for India’s industrial and logistics ecosystem. Overall, the Budget provides long-term visibility and confidence for institutional capital to invest at scale, positioning India as a globally competitive manufacturing and logistics hub."

Budget 2026 Live Updates: Reacting to Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Anand Mahurkar, Founder and CEO of Findability Sciences, "Today’s Budget acknowledges that agtech isn’t a niche. It is central to India’s strategic priorities of improved farmer incomes and food security. With AI and machine learning embedded in digital agriculture infrastructure, we can anticipate pest outbreaks before they devastate crops, tailor irrigation and input usage down to the field level, and deliver climate-smart advisories that reduce risk. AI transforms agriculture from reactive struggle to proactive, data-driven growth."

Budget 2026 Live Updates: Muneer Ahmad Khant, Managing Director of ViewSonic India, on FY27 Budget, said, "India’s Budget 2026 sends a strong signal that the future of growth lies at the intersection of education, technology, and industry. The proposed Education-to-Employment Standing Committee, along with initiatives such as Content Creator Labs across 15,000 schools and plans for university townships near industry corridors, reflect a clear intent to align learning with real-world skills, particularly in emerging areas like AI and advanced technologies."

"Coupled with an effective capital expenditure of ₹17.14 lakh crore and continued momentum toward domestic manufacturing and a robust semiconductor ecosystem, the Budget lays a strong foundation for modern digital classrooms and future-ready campuses," he added.

Budget 2026 Live Updates: Commenting on the FY27 Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Aditya Narayan Mishra, MD & CEO of CIEL HR, said, "Union Budget 2026 represents a fundamental shift in how India approaches workforce development. By prioritising capex, MSMEs, skills and future-facing industries, the government has laid the foundation for a more formal, skilled and geographically distributed talent ecosystem. From an HR perspective, this is exactly what the market needs, a move away from reactive hiring to proactive workforce capacity building. The proposed TDS rate of 1% for the Staffing companies is a welcome change which will improve the cash flows for HR solutions companies like CIEL HR."

He added, "The true measure of success lies in execution. We must ensure that budgetary allocations are effectively channelled to the appropriate sectors. The critical challenge is the swift and large-scale bridging of skill deficits. Can we cultivate a nimble, industry-ready workforce capable of keeping pace with advancements in AI, automation and other emerging technologies? A positive affirmation to these questions is the key to unlocking India's next, truly transformative phase of economic growth; a phase fuelled not just by investment and technology, but by our capacity to develop, deploy and continually upskill our human capital."

Budget 2026 Live Updates: SIAM President and Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd MD and CEO Shailesh Chandra said, "The Union Budget 2026–27 continues to focus on long-term, sustained economic growth with a strong emphasis on manufacturing, infrastructure including freight corridors and waterways and fiscal prudence."

"The decision to raise the capital expenditure target to Rs 12.2 lakh crore for FY 2026-27 from Rs 11.2 lakh crore in the current year will provide a strong impetus to demand creation and industrial activity, including the automobile sector," he added.

Budget 2026 Live Updates: "The Union Budget is pragmatic; a nine to ten per cent hike in capex will have a multiplier effect and create multiple growth opportunities across sectors," said N Venu, CEO and Managing Director, Hitachi Energy.

Budget 2026 Live Updates: The government will launch a multi-lingual artificial intelligence tool 'Bharat-VISTAAR' to integrate agristack portals and ICAR package on farm practices, a move that will help provide customised advisory support to farmers.

"I propose to launch Bharat-VISTAAR — a multilingual AI tool that shall integrate the AgriStack portals and the ICAR package on agricultural practices with AI systems. This will enhance farm productivity, enable better decisions for farmers and reduce risk by providing customised advisory support," Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said.

Budget 2026 Live Updates: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday, february 1, allocated ₹2,77,830 crore to the Ministry of Railways for capital expenditure in the financial year 2026–27.

The Budget allocation includes the construction of new lines and the purchase of locomotives, wagons, and coaches, among other works.

The ministry had received ₹2,52,000 crore in FY 2025–26. The current allocation for the upcoming financial year is 10.25% higher, making it the highest ever. Besides, the ministry will get ₹15,000 crore from Extra Budgetary Resources, the document showed.

Budget 2026 Live Updates: CII Telangana chairman Sivaprasad Reddy said, "Union Budget is futuristic, very supportive of all sectors, including MSMEs, manufacturing and IT."

Budget 2026 Live Updates: Mahindra Group CEO and MD Anish Shah said, "This Budget focuses on enhancing India’s competitiveness in the world, takes meaningful steps towards atma nirbharta and enables a wider participation in the benefits of economic growth."

"Overall, Budget 2026 signals continuity in policy direction, a firm commitment to sustainable and inclusive growth, and efforts to unlock India’s economic potential at scale. We believe these measures can accelerate innovation, enhance value-added manufacturing and strengthen India’s standing in the world," he added.

Budget 2026 Live Updates: Praising the Union Budget 2026, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said, "It is a budget that promotes the idea of ‘local to global’ and is welfare-oriented."

Budget 2026 Live Updates: ASSOCHAM Executive Member and Chairman of the Continental Carriers Group of Companies, Vipin Vohra, said, “It is a very progressive budget. Exports will increase, container manufacturing will get a boost, and the simplification of many aspects of income tax will strengthen the Indian economy.”

Budget 2026 Live Updates: The government has proposed to increase the outlay for the Ministry of Communications to ₹73,990 crore, mainly due to a major rise in capital infusion for state-run telecom firm BSNL.

The increased allocation is for various projects, including BharatNet, capital requirement of BSNL, including cost of spectrum, network rollout, and to meet internal requirements, Telecom minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said.

"We have seen a very healthy increase in allocation from RE (revised estimate) of last year, ₹53,000 crore on telecom. We have grown to ₹73,000 crore. That's almost 40%," the minister said.

Budget 2026 Live Updates: Noted industrialist and Vedanta Group Chairman Anil Agarwal on Sunday, February 1, said the FY27 budget is growth oriented with a clear focus on increasing public capital expenditure.

"It is a budget which creates opportunities for youth to improve their livelihoods, women to become financially independent and for employment intensive sectors like medical tourism to take off," he said.

"I welcome the government's keen attention to critical minerals and rare earths. The Rare Earths Corridors for mining, processing, R&D and manufacturing in Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala will boost growth, employment and mineral security. Import duty exemption on capital goods for critical minerals processing is very timely in the current global scenario," he said in a statement.

"I congratulate the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) and the Finance Minister (Nirmala Sitharaman) for continuing to steer the Indian economy with a very steady hand in uncertain times," he added.

Budget 2026 Live Updates: "A Budget for the real economy. Welcome increase in defence spend. Broad fiscal discipline continues. Works on balancing between financialisation of the economy, and focused development of diverse, deep India long term," Kotak Mahindra Bank Founder and Director Uday Kotak said.

Budget 2026 Live Updates: On the motive behind increasing Securities Transaction Tax (STT) in the futures and options segment, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the STT hike in F&O is aimed at deterring small investors who lose money in speculative derivative trades.

Budget 2026 Live Updates: Budget allocation for the AYUSH ministry saw 20% increase, from ₹3,671.82 crore (revised estimates) in FY 2025-26 to ₹4,408.93 crore in FY 2026-27.

The government has also proposed the setting up of three new All India Institutes of Ayurveda to strengthen research in the field.

Presenting the Union Budget 2026-27, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, "Ancient Indian Yoga, already respected in several parts of the world, was given a mass global recognition when the Prime Minister took it to the United Nations."

Budget 2026 Live Updates: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in a post-budget press conference, said, "Seven more rare diseases are added to the import exemption list of the import duties. Baggage clearance and personal items which you bring in when you travel are all being given enhanced duty-free elements. Besides that, there are quite a few direct tax and indirect tax proposals."

Budget 2026 Live Updates: Budgeted capex of ₹12.2 lakh crore in the financial year 2026-27 is 4.4% of GDP, the highest-ever, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said at post-budget conference.

Budget 2026 Live Updates: As India's voter base increases, the Ministry of Law has been allocated ₹250 crore for voter identity cards, while another ₹500 crore has been earmarked to settle Lok Sabha election related expenditure.

The expenditure on Election Photo Identity Cards, or EPICs, is shared equally between the Centre and the states. Each state pays the amount in proportion to the number of electors it has.

The voter base of India stands at around 99 crore now.

As per the FY27 Union Budget, ₹250 crore has been allocated under the revised estimates.

Union Budget 2026 Live Updates: Calling the budget historic, Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that it will become a strong root in India becoming 'Atmanirbhar' by 2047.

"It emphasises reforms. This budget addresses the concerns of villages, the poor, farmers, youth, and women. If we look at the department’s budget alone, it has been increased by 21%. I am happy to share that out of the total rural development budget, more than ₹55,600 crore has been allocated specifically for the Viksit Bharat Gram Yojana," he said.

Union Budget 2026 Live Updates: The sports goods manufacturing sector emerged as one of the key beneficiaries in the FY27 Budget, with a first-time allocation of ₹500 crore as the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports' allocation was hiked by over ₹1,000 crore.

Union Budget 2026 Live Updates: Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said, "Under the leadership of PM Modi, FM Nirmala Sitharaman presented the budget for a record 9th time. I congratulate them because this budget, in fact, sows the seeds for 'Viksit Bharat'."

Union Budget 2026 Live Updates: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the Budget announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has several major initiatives to strengthen infrastructure.

"These include the development of dedicated freight corridors, expansion of national waterways, construction of high-speed rail corridors, and a special focus on the growth of tier 2 and tier 3 cities. Additionally, the promotion of municipal bonds aims to provide a strong economic foundation for urban areas. Together, these measures will accelerate the progress toward a Viksit Bharat," he said.

Union Budget 2026 Live Updates: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said, "India has signed, the ‘mother of all deals’, aimed at ensuring that the maximum benefits reach India’s youth and the small and medium industries…This budget presents an ambitious roadmap to give new momentum to the Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat initiatives…Measures such as the Bio-Pharma Shakti Mission, Semiconductor Mission 2.0, the Electronics Component Manufacturing Scheme, the creation of a Rare Earth Corridor, emphasis on critical minerals, new schemes for the textile sector, promotion of high-tech toy manufacturing, and the development of champion MSMEs are future-oriented steps that address the needs of both the present and the future of the country."

Union Budget 2026 Live Updates: "This budget embodies the vision of trust-based governance and a human-centric economic framework. It is a distinctive budget that prioritises reducing the fiscal deficit and containing inflation while balancing high capital expenditure with robust economic growth," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.

Union Budget 2026 Live Updates: Speaking on Union Budget 2026-27, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that 140 crore Indians are not satisfied with being the fastest-growing economy.

"We want to become the world’s third-largest economy as soon as possible," he said.

Union Budget 2026 Live Updates: "This budget is a strong foundation for our high flight toward a developed India by 2047. Friends, the reform express on which India is riding today will gain new energy and new momentum from this budget," said PM Modi Narendra Modi on Union Budget 2026.

Union Budget 2026 Live Updates: Speaking on Union Budget 2026-27, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "Today's budget is historic, as it highlights India's commitment to nari shakti—women's empowerment. As a woman Finance Minister, Nirmala ji has set a new record by presenting the Union Budget for the ninth consecutive time."