A Budget that underscores credibility and invests for competitiveness

The Union Budget 2026-27 comes at a moment of unusual global uncertainty, marked by disrupted supply chains, rising resource constraints and fragile multilateralism. Against this backdrop, the Budget makes a clear strategic choice: maintain fiscal discipline while using public investment to strengthen India’s long-term competitiveness and improve ease of living for citizens.

Rather than chase short-term stimulus, the Budget anchors itself in credibility. The reaffirmation of fiscal consolidation — combined with a continued push on infrastructure — signals a confidence that India’s growth momentum can now be sustained with an equal focus on maintaining macro-economic stability. Some of the key takeaways are:

Fiscal prudence as an enabler, not a constraint: A defining feature of the Budget is its emphasis on declining debt-to-GDP ratio. The Finance Minister noted that the ratio is projected to fall from 56.1% in 2025-26 to 55.6% in 2026-27. Lower debt and reduced interest outgo are explicitly positioned as creating headroom for spending on priority areas, especially capital expenditure.

Union Budget 2026 LIVE

This has allowed the government to raise public capital expenditure to ₹12.2 lakh crore, even as the fiscal deficit is reduced to 4.3% of GDP. The message is clear: infrastructure investment will remain the principal lever for growth, but it will be funded within a disciplined macro framework.

Logistics reform through inland waterways: Among the most consequential infrastructure announcements is the renewed push on inland waterways and coastal shipping. The operationalisation of 20 new national waterways, starting with NW-5 in Odisha, and the launch of a Coastal Cargo Promotion Scheme aim to double the modal share of waterways and coastal shipping to 12% by 2047.

This is not merely an infrastructure expansion. Logistics cost in India remains high relative to global peers, eroding manufacturing competitiveness. By shifting bulk cargo away from road and rail to waterways, the Budget targets a structural reduction in freight costs while promoting environmentally sustainable movement of cargo. The parallel focus on skill development and ship-repair ecosystems along waterways reinforces the idea that logistics reform can generate employment alongside efficiency gains.

Securing strategic materials through Rare Earth Corridors: The Budget’s focus on Rare Earth Corridors (RECs) reflects a sharp understanding of the geopolitics of manufacturing. By supporting mineral-rich States such as Odisha, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu to develop integrated corridors spanning mining, processing, research and manufacturing, the government is addressing a critical vulnerability in global supply chains.

Union Budget 2026-27 documents

Rare earths are no longer niche inputs; they are foundational to electronics, clean energy, defence, and advanced manufacturing. The corridor approach moves policy beyond extraction towards value-added industrial ecosystems, reducing import dependence while positioning India as a reliable supplier in a fragmented global market.

Reviving legacy industrial clusters: Alongside frontier sectors, the Budget turns attention to the revival of 200 legacy industrial clusters. Many of these clusters suffer not from lack of entrepreneurial capacity but from outdated infrastructure, poor connectivity and technology gaps. By focusing on cost competitiveness and efficiency upgrades, the government acknowledges that industrial renewal must be broad-based. Reviving legacy clusters is as much about preserving employment and regional balance as it is about productivity. It also signals a pragmatic industrial policy — one that modernises what already exists, while also betting big on emerging sectors.

Container manufacturing and trade readiness: The announcement of a scheme for container manufacturing with a budgetary allocation of ₹10,000 crore over five years addresses a less visible but critical trade bottleneck. Container shortages during recent global disruptions exposed India’s dependence on imported logistics hardware. Building domestic container manufacturing capacity strengthens trade resilience, reduces logistics volatility and complements the broader push on ports, waterways and freight corridors. It also illustrates the Budget’s emphasis on closing gaps across the entire trade ecosystem.

MSMEs as growth multipliers: Support for MSMEs runs through the Budget as a cross-cutting theme. The proposed SME Growth Fund, liquidity support through a strengthened TReDS ecosystem, and professional compliance assistance aim to help MSMEs scale, formalise and integrate with larger value chains. Notably, the focus shifts from survival to champion creation – encouraging enterprises to grow in size, sophistication and competitiveness.

Ease of living as the unifying thread: Beyond economics, the Budget repeatedly invokes ‘ease of living’ through tax simplification, faster customs clearance, reduced compliance, and citizen-friendly processes. These measures may appear incremental in isolation, but together they reinforce a governance philosophy that places citizens and small businesses at the centre of reforms. In that sense, the Budget is not just pro-growth or pro-investment; it is deeply citizen-centric, recognising that sustainable growth depends on trust, predictability and everyday efficiency.

Overall, the strength of the Union Budget 2026-27 lies in its coherence: fiscal prudence that enables investment, infrastructure that lowers costs, industrial policy that addresses strategic vulnerabilities, and reforms that improve daily life. If execution keeps pace with intent, it will lead to a durable strengthening of India’s growth ambitions.

(The writer is Managing Director, IMFA and a former President of FICCI)

Published – February 01, 2026 05:54 pm IST