The Union Budget 2026-27, presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, reinforces India’s push toward Viksit Bharat with a strong focus on manufacturing, infrastructure, fiscal discipline, and sectoral resilience. Key highlights include public capital expenditure increased to ₹12.2 lakh crore (3.1% of GDP), fiscal deficit targeted at 4.3% of GDP, a ₹10,000 crore Biopharma Shakti programme to position India as a global biologics hub, a ₹10,000 crore SME Growth Fund for champion MSMEs, extension of the Khelo India Mission for long-term sports development, and measures for self-reliance in defence, textiles, and exports amid global uncertainties.
Industry experts across healthcare, sports, finance, defence manufacturing, and MSMEs have welcomed these initiatives as strategic steps for sustainable growth, affordability, and competitiveness.
Biopharma & Healthcare Sector Gets Major Thrust
The Biopharma Shakti initiative (₹10,000 crore over five years) aims to build domestic capabilities in biologics, biosimilars, and chronic disease treatments, complemented by emphasis on preventive care, AYUSH integration (Ayurveda and Yoga), and expanded care facilities to shift healthcare toward integrated wellness.
Arun Ramamurthy, Co-founder of Staywell.Health, emphasized the long-term impact: “The Indian Government intends to increase investment in its biopharma sector through various initiatives such as the Biopharma Shakti fund (which is Rs. 10,000 crore) along with improving the affordability of medicines used in treating chronic diseases. This investment will serve to lower healthcare costs over time. Investing more in preventive care, traditional health care modalities (Ayurveda and Yoga) and increasing the total number of places of care will change the focus of healthcare from being solely reactively treated too much more integratively-treat/ integrated wellness based over a long time frame – ultimately decreasing stress on the existing healthcare delivery system/infrastructure and improving health risk outcomes throughout the overall healthcare insurance delivery system.”
Sports Infrastructure & Khelo India Mission Extended
The extension of the Khelo India Mission for another 10 years prioritizes long-term sports infrastructure in schools, communities, and public spaces, with a focus on quality, climate-resilient surfaces ahead of events like the Commonwealth Games.
Deepak Verma, Head of Business at Pacecourt, highlighted the strategic shift: “The Khelo India Mission, now extended for a further 10 years, is a much-needed initiative that understands sports as a long-term national infrastructure and not merely an activity that takes place through events. As India readies itself for a long-term sports infrastructure build-out in schools, developments, and public spaces, and as it prepares for the Commonwealth Games in the next decade, the need to shift the focus from short-term build-out to the long-term design of these infrastructure assets is essential. Long-term, standardized, and climate-resilient sports surfaces are critical to ensuring that public investments are channeled into sports infrastructure that remains safe, playable, and functional over a period of high usage. The success of this mission will not only be measured by the number of courts constructed but also by the quality of these courts that can withstand the test of time.”
Balanced Growth with Fiscal Prudence & Market Stability
Higher infrastructure and manufacturing spending, lower customs duties on EVs, electronics, and essential medicines, plus MSME/startup support, drive medium-term optimism, though execution remains key amid volatility.
Prashant Mishra, Founder and CEO of Agnam Advisors, noted: “Union Budget 2026 focuses on growth through higher spending on infrastructure, manufacturing and jobs, while still aiming to gradually reduce the fiscal deficit. Lower customs duties on EVs, electronics and essential medicines, along with new support for MSMEs, startups and urban infrastructure, are positive for the economy and for sectors like manufacturing, financials and domestic businesses. However, large government borrowing and global uncertainty have kept markets volatile, showing that actual execution and company earnings matter more than budget headlines. On the tax front, the government has largely kept the new tax system unchanged, with some relief through easier TDS/TCS rules and higher limits for rent, remittances and senior citizens, but without major rate cuts. Overall, the budget supports India’s medium-term growth story and reinforces the need for disciplined investing, diversification and tax efficiency rather than quick portfolio changes based only on budget-day reactions.”
Defence & Export-Oriented Manufacturing for Self-Reliance
Customs duty exemptions on defence/aerospace components, textile parks, container production, and targeted export funding build resilience in supply chains and global competitiveness.
Saurabh Bansal, Founder of Finatwork Investment, said: “Several priorities in the Union Budget are influenced by the changing geopolitical environment. Support for India’s goal of self-reliance and long-term strategic ability is indicated by the emphasis placed on domestic defence and security manufacturing. The customs duty exemptions on defence and aerospace components are an example of this focus on manufacturing for self-reliance. At the same time, there is an effort to position Indian manufacturers more competitively in the global economy by focusing on domestic production while also focusing on exporting, including establishing textile parks, producing containers, and creating targeted export funding. These initiatives are intended to reduce pressure on tariffs from other countries and ultimately position Indian manufacturers to compete more effectively in the international marketplace. When viewed together, these initiatives provide a clear policy framework for building resilience into supply chains, decreasing the amount of foreign dependency, and enhancing India’s manufacturing and exporting capacity during a time of uncertainty around the world.”
MSME Ecosystem Strengthened with Liquidity & Formalisation
The ₹10,000 crore SME Growth Fund, revival of 200 legacy industrial clusters, integration of GeM with TReDS for faster payments, top-up to Self-Reliant India Fund, and corporate mitras for compliance support empower MSMEs in digital and fintech spaces.
Amit Kumar, Director and CTO of Easebuzz (MSME focus), shared: “The Government’s 2026 Union Budget prioritises strengthening the MSME ecosystem with measures for liquidity, institutional support and the formalisation of the sector. A ₹10,000 Crore SME Growth Fund will enable MSMEs to expand their operations, improve efficiencies and remain competitive, while nearly 200 legacy industrial clusters will be revived so that traditional manufacturing regions can be revitalised from credit and technology constraints. The integration of the Government e-Marketplace with the Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDS) is designed to resolve long-standing issues related to delayed payments by improving the visibility of accounts receivable and increasing cash flows to SMEs. The top-up to the Self-Reliant India Fund will provide additional equity support for micro and emerging enterprises, in addition to the credit-based support measures. Liquidity and credit guarantee support, as well as the introduction of corporate mitras to assist MSMEs in meeting compliance and other operational needs, demonstrate a holistic approach to enterprise development. In the digital and fintech sectors, these reforms represent the increasing importance of having transparent and technology-enabled transaction infrastructure to promote MSME resilience, formalisation and sustainable growth.”
The Union Budget 2026-27 delivers a pragmatic, execution-focused roadmap balancing fiscal consolidation with aggressive sectoral investments, positioning India for resilient, inclusive growth amid global challenges and advancing toward Viksit Bharat 2047.
Last Updated on: Tuesday, February 3, 2026 11:03 am by News Pixel Team | Published by: News Pixel Team on Tuesday, February 3, 2026 11:03 am | News Categories: News
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