Credible, creditable, Pg10

Key Highlights:

• Budget 2026 focuses on sectoral and issue-based measures to propel India's growth, moving away from the "Big Bang" approach of Budget 2025.
• The budget includes measures for manufacturing, services, and labor-intensive sectors like textiles and leather.
• Capital expenditure is set to grow to ₹12.2 lakh crore in 2026-27, which is 4.4% of GDP.
• The fiscal deficit is projected at 4.3% of GDP in 2026-27, down from 4.4% estimated for 2025-26.

Detailed Insights:

• Budget 2026 prioritizes a diffused approach due to geoeconomic and geopolitical uncertainties, deeming it more effective than targeted announcements.
• The Biopharma SHAKTI scheme aims to establish India as a global biopharma manufacturing hub with an allocation of ₹10,000 crore over five years.
• The budget emphasizes the creation of Champion MSMEs, providing them with equity, liquidity, and professional support, as they account for 48.6% of India's exports.
• The budget includes indirect tax relaxations to promote exports of marine, leather, and textile products, and to speed up India’s energy transition.
• The National Export Promotion Mission, announced in the last Budget, was implemented only by December 2025, nine months into the financial year.
• The high-powered ‘education to employment and enterprise’ standing committee should get off the ground soon.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Fiscal Deficit: The difference between the government's total revenue and its total expenditure.
• Capital Expenditure: Funds used by a company to acquire or upgrade physical assets.
• Gross GST revenue: The total revenue collected from the Goods and Services Tax before any adjustments.