The idea of back-loading the target of fiscal consolidation is perhaps guided by the government's desire to be prepared for any adverse developments in the coming year, points out A K Bhattacharya.
The Union Budget backs skilling across animation, gaming and comics. But creators and studios confront a hard question: who owns what comes next?
This Budget positions India's taxation ideology as not merely a revenue source but as a strategic catalyst for growth, inclusion and long-term confidence.
This single amendment, unfortunately, overshadows much of the Budget's promise, explains Harsh Roongta.
The 2026-27 Budget, seeking to harmonise the government's imperative to grant certainty while ensuring a rational tax policy, had several notable announcements to usher in halcyon days, says Mukesh Butani.
rediffGURUS Mihir Tanna, Vipul Bhavsar, T S Khurana, Vivek Lala and Anil Rego will answer your tax queries related to the Union Budget 2026-2o27.
'If you go by the capital expenditure, this is a good defence budget. But we will have to see if the government can keep defence spending at 2 per cent or higher in 2027-2028.'
The Congress party has strongly criticized the Union Budget, calling it 'lacklustre' and 'disappointing,' claiming it fails to address the needs of farmers, unemployed youth, and other key sectors.
Nirmala Sitharaman moved into her Kartavya Bhavan office on October 2, in time to get the work on the Budget 2026-2027 going.
A Lenovo study reveals that Indian enterprises are planning to increase their investments in Artificial Intelligence (AI) at a higher rate than other countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
The Budget emerges as a measured, credible and forward-looking policy document that reinforces India's commitment to remaining a stable, reform-oriented economy amid an increasingly fragmented global landscape, says A Balasubramanian.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's biggest challenge will be to find a new growth driver, particularly against the backdrop of a global economy ravaged by heightened uncertainty and fragmentation, financial markets on a precipice, and global commodity prices on a continued uptrend.
This is the first Budget in my memory of Budgets over the last half a century which has embraced upfront, enthusiastically and emphatically, technology, modernity and fiscal sobriety, notes Shreekant Sambrani.
CA Sumeet Mehta analyses the Union Budget 2026-2027, identifying key positives and negatives.
How does the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation's budget compare with the budget of other Indian cities?
Budget 2026 is an intentional and ambitious one - From manufacturing growth to services supremacy, from technology consumption to AI-powered transformation. This is the blueprint for a $7 trillion economy built on intelligence, not just scale.
Investors and startup executives are calling for extending the period for an entity to be recognised as a startup from 10 to 15 years for deep-tech companies.
This year's Economic Survey and the Union Budget were more closely followed for more reasons than one.
Reiterating Sitharaman's statement that this is a youth power budget, Modi emphasised that the provisions made in the budget will prepare leaders, innovators and creators across different sectors.
The proposals outlined in Budget 2026-27 represent a carefully crafted, multi-year strategy designed to strengthen India's big bets on the path to Viksit Bharat 2047, says Sameer Gupta.
The government's Budget announcements providing tax holiday for data centres, setting up of city economic regions (CERs) and funding to improve infrastructure in Tier-II and -III cities may give an indirect boost to India's realty sector, said industry executives.
The government on Sunday gave a strong push to upgradation and expansion of healthcare infrastructure, medical education and pharma sector with the Union Budget 2026-27 announcing a slew of steps, including those aimed at making India a global hub for allied healthcare professionals and biopharma manufacturing.
In 2025-26, the government allocated Rs 6,81,210 crore for defence budget.
Customs regimes can lead to labyrinthine legal disputes. Budget 2026 must recognise that an excessively defensive Customs posture can itself become a trade barrier, point out Mukesh Butani and Shankey Agrawal.
Budget 2026 sticks to fiscal discipline, shuns populist measures despite five key state elections coming up, but ends up rattling stock markets with a higher transaction tax on derivatives trading.
Among its 27 recommendations for the Union Budget is this: It has suggested that equity investments held for more than one year and up to three years should be taxed at 12.5 per cent on gains exceeding 2 lakh in a financial year.
There is a minimum requirement of Rs 2.5 trillion capital expenditure every year and it is understood at the highest levels of the government.
'When markets go into a budget with excessive optimism, the risk of disappointment is higher.'
Smriti Mandhana was a major attraction in The Hundred's women's player draft, with Richa Ghosh securing a significant deal and Deepti Sharma also finding a place in the league.
India is a global leader in software development services, IT enabled services, knowledge process outsourcing services and contract R&D services relating to software development, Sitharaman said noting these business segments are quite inter-connected with each other.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will address the Lok Sabha on the situation in West Asia, as Parliament reconvenes for the Budget session amidst ongoing regional tensions.
Restoring weighted tax deductions and adopting a petty patents regime can foster firm-level innovative activity critical for competitiveness, points out Nagesh Kumar.
Enforcement agencies have highlighted risks related to money laundering and terror financing, prompting closer scrutiny of crypto platforms operating in India.
The Union Budget for 2026-27 is expected to sketch out a road map for trebling the cooperative sector's contribution to the Indian economy over the next decade, with the aim of bringing 500 million people within its ambit, in line with the objectives of the National Cooperative Policy, 2025.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday said individual persons residing outside India (PROI) will be permitted equity investments in listed Indian companies through a portfolio investment scheme.
The Lok Sabha rejected a resolution seeking the removal of Om Birla as Speaker by a voice vote amidst opposition protests and demands for an apology from Home Minister Amit Shah.
Officials said the government is keen to conform to the convention of the Union Budget for 2026-2027 being presented on February 1 despite it falling on a Sunday in 2026.
The Union Budget on Sunday proposed a tax holiday till 2047 for foreign companies that provide cloud services to customers globally using data centres located in India, signalling the government's push to make the country a major hub for AI and digital infrastructure.
The Union Budget on Sunday proposed a tax holiday till 2047 for foreign companies that provide cloud services to customers globally using data centres located in India, signalling the government's push to make the country a major hub for AI and digital infrastructure.
Foreign investors have remained cautious ahead of the Union Budget amid expectations of limited policy changes.
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