The need for a manufacturing policy, reining in food inflation and raising investment in the country were among key suggestions given by economists who met Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and senior ministry officials in the first round of pre-Budget consultations on Friday.
India should resist knee-jerk responses to tariff volatility in the US and instead use the current geopolitical churn to build manufacturing scale at home, former G20 Sherpa and former chief executive officer of NITI Aayog Amitabh Kant said on Wednesday.
Ficci has suggested formulation of a 'manufacturing policy'. Such a policy will spell out guidelines for attaining a 12% growth of the sector annually. Guidelines will help in terms of incentives and subsidies; technology development; development of sustainable raw material base; regulatory and procedural reforms to the manufacturing sector. The manufacturing sector's profitability has been badly affected in the last few months & the government needs to intervene immediately.
The Budget reframes healthcare as a strategic national capability, backing biopharma innovation, workforce expansion and technology-led governance to power India's next growth phase.
India aims at increasing the share of manufacturing sector, which contributes over 80 per cent in the country's overall industrial production, from 16-17 per cent to 25-26 per cent of the gross domestic product by 2020.
Union Minister Jitendra Singh inaugurated a new biotechnology facility and dedicated a national facility for recombinant cells and sensors at the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology in Thiruvananthapuram, highlighting India's focus on biotechnology and its potential for economic growth.
Capex, infrastructure development, and prudent fiscal management are the key focus areas in the Budget, says Nilesh Shah.
The GraphIN 2026 conference in Kochi brings together global experts to discuss advancements in graphene and two-dimensional materials, highlighting India's growing role in electronics and semiconductor manufacturing.
Sustaining 8 per cent-plus growth rates is necessary if we are to reach high-income status by 2047, points out Amitabh Kant.
A group of ministers, headed by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, has been formed to resolve inter-ministerial differences stalling the national manufacturing policy which aims at giving a boost to the sector.
A new study reveals that green hydrogen's potential as a sustainable fuel is contingent on the rapid decarbonisation of energy grids worldwide.
Precious metal prices, particularly gold and silver, experienced a significant surge in the national capital as investors sought safe-haven assets amid escalating hostilities in the Middle East.
Sri City in Andhra Pradesh is dubbed the "Cooling City" of India, accounting for nearly 40 per cent of the air conditioners (ACs) manufactured in the country. On Tuesday, this industrial hub added one more feather to its cooling credentials. Carrier Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Ltd, the Indian arm of the oldest AC company in the world, Carrier Global, signed a deal to invest around ~1,000 crore for a new manufacturing unit at Sri City.
Western Coalfields Limited (WCL) has discovered significant concentrations of rare earth elements and critical minerals in its mines in Maharashtra, potentially transforming waste material into revenue-generating resources and diversifying the company's business.
Indian exports to the US will face a 10% tariff, down from 25%, for 150 days following a US Supreme Court ruling. However, uncertainty persists due to potential further tariff hikes and long-term implications.
The figures are grim. India accounts for around 19 per cent of global cervical cancer cases and 23 per cent of deaths.
This year's Economic Survey and the Union Budget were more closely followed for more reasons than one.
In a region increasingly shaped by competition and coercion, such collaboration strengthens security without confrontation, builds capacity without dependency and promotes order without domination, points out Dr Kumar.
'The entire US ecosystem built over decades at the bases in the Gulf region, especially the UAE, costing trillions of dollars have been decimated, dealing a mortal blow to the US Central Command's war capability,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
India is growing fast, but to keep growing strong, the government must make more things at home, create jobs, and spend money wisely, suggests Rajiv Memani, regional managing partner, Africa-India Region, EY.
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.
Highlights of the Economic Survey 2025-26
A nationwide strike called by central trade unions saw a mixed response across India, impacting various sectors and states differently, with some areas experiencing disruptions while others remained largely unaffected.
US President Donald Trump asserted that the trade deal with India remains intact despite a Supreme Court ruling against his tariffs, while also claiming he used tariffs to stop a war between India and Pakistan.
New investors should enter gradually and with a long horizon. 'Staggered investment through systematic purchase plans is advisable rather than lump-sum buying.'
India's electric passenger vehicle (ePV) market has expanded sharply over the past five years, with registrations rising from just 3,252 units in 2020 to about 170,000 in 2025. Throughout this scale-up, southern states have remained the bedrock of adoption, consistently contributing around one-third of national electric vehicle (EV) registrations - emphasising the region's role as the structural backbone of India's EV transition.
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.
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.
In the Indo-Pacific's new era -- where perception shapes reality faster than treaties -- the real entrapment is not of China or the United States. It is the test Japan has set for itself -- and whether partners like India, acting as balancers rather than accelerants, can help ensure that the story ends in stability, points out Varun Arya.
The Union Budget for 2026-27, presented by Finance Minister (FM) Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday, which was a first, had an excellent domestic macro backdrop. According to the first advance estimates, gross domestic product (GDP) in constant prices is projected to grow 7.4 per cent in the current financial year, against 6.5 per cent in 2024-25.
The fiscal tilt towards capex benefits companies in investment-related sectors like capital goods, defence equipment, engineering & construction and metal & mining. The planned cut in revenue expenditure will weigh on companies in consumption sectors like FMCG, consumer durables and retail.
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.
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.
'Grassroots-level corruption, which disrupts the last-mile work, cannot be ignored in your enthusiasm and drive to get going to complete the project.' 'Like it was in MGNREGA, in some states, it is the case with the Jal Jeevan mission.' 'The last minute levels of corruption can ruin the intent of the project itself.' 'When you see that people can game a particular well-intended and well-crafted project, you need to correct that.'
'It's a very, very large opportunity -- not just for India, but even for Uber globally.'
The next many decades belong to India as the global economic powerhouse, and it will be essential to continue demonstrating policy stability, as the country aspires to be the world's manufacturing hub, Maruti Suzuki India MD and CEO Hisashi Takeuchi said on Friday.
Experts said that earmarking of funds for public health at par with national security indicates a key policy shift.
FDI inflows into India are expected to register robust growth in 2026, supported by strong macroeconomic fundamentals, big-ticket investment announcements, sustained efforts to improve the ease of doing business, and a new generation of investment-linked trade pacts.
The core dilemma remains: Why provide further stimulus to an economy that is already booming at an 8 per cent growth rate? asks Rajeswari Sengupta.
The Maharashtra municipal elections showed a troubling shift, where votes were traded for cash, convictions no longer mattered, and ideology became an afterthought, observes Ramesh Menon.
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