HIGHLIGHTS OF UNION BUDGET 2026-27

Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman tabled the Union Budget 2026-27 in the parliament today. The highlights of the budget are as follows:

The first Budget prepared in Kartavya Bhawan, is inspired by 3 kartavyas:

First Kartavya – Accelerating Economic Growth

• Biopharma SHAKTI: ₹10,000 crore scheme to make India a global biopharma hub, with new NIPERs and 1000+ clinical trial sites
• ISM 2.0: Focus on semiconductor equipment, materials, and full-stack ecosystem development
• Electronics Manufacturing: Outlay increased to ₹40,000 crore to boost component manufacturing
• Rare Earth Corridors: Develop mining and processing hubs in Odisha, Kerala, AP, and Tamil Nadu
• Chemical Parks: Establish 3 plug-and-play chemical clusters through state-led challenge model.

Textile Sector Initiatives

• National Fibre Scheme: Promote natural, man-made, and new-age fibres for self-reliance
• Textile Expansion Scheme: Modernise clusters via technology and infrastructure support
• Mega Textile Parks: Develop parks focusing on technical textiles and value addition
• Gram Swaraj Initiative: Strengthen khadi, handloom, and handicrafts
• Market Linkages: Improve branding, exports, skilling, and quality standards.

Second Kartavya – Human Capital & Capacity Building

• Education to Employment Committee: High-powered body to align skills, services sector, and employment
• Allied Health Workforce: Upgrade institutions and add 1 lakh Allied Health Professionals in 5 years
• Medical Tourism: Establish 5 Regional Medical Hubs to position India as a global healthcare destination
• AYUSH Expansion: Set up 3 new All India Institutes of Ayurveda
• Animal Husbandry: Increase veterinary workforce by 20,000+ with private sector support
• Veterinary Infrastructure: Launch loan-linked subsidy scheme for colleges, hospitals, labs, and breeding centres
• Orange Economy: Support AVGC labs in 15,000 schools & 500 colleges via IICT Mumbai
• University Townships: Develop 5 education hubs near industrial corridors
• Girls’ Education: Establish one girls’ hostel in every district
• Tourism Skills: Train 10,000 tourist guides through structured programmes
• Hospitality Upgrade: Upgrade NCHMCT to National Institute of Hospitality
• Digital Tourism: Create National Destination Digital Knowledge Grid
• Heritage Tourism: Develop 15 key archaeological sites into experiential destinations
• Sports Development: Launch Khelo India Mission for long-term sports transformation.

Third Kartavya – Inclusive Growth 

• Water Infrastructure: Develop 500 reservoirs and Amrit Sarovars to boost irrigation and farmer income
• High-Value Crops: Promote coconut, sandalwood, cocoa, and cashew cultivation in coastal regions
• Coconut Promotion: Launch scheme to enhance coconut productivity and output.

• Bharat-VISTAAR: Introduce AI-based multilingual platform integrating AgriStack and ICAR practices.
• Divyangjan Empowerment: Launch Divyangjan Kaushal Yojana for skill-based employment in IT, AVGC, hospitality, and F&B sectors
• Mental Health Infra: Establish NIMHANS-2 in North India
• Institutional Strengthening: Upgrade mental health institutes in Ranchi and Tezpur as apex centres
• East Coast Corridor: Develop integrated industrial corridor with Durgapur as a key node
• Tourism Boost: Create 5 tourism destinations in Purvodaya states
• E-Mobility: Deploy 4,000 e-buses in the region
• Buddhist Circuit: Develop Buddhist tourism circuits across North-East states
• Finance Support: Allocate ₹1.4 lakh crore to states (FY 2026–27) as per 16th Finance Commission

Important Initiative 

SHE-Mart (Self-Help Entrepreneur Mart) Initiative

• About: Announced in Union Budget 2026–27, SHE-Mart aims to empower rural women by creating community-owned retail outlets for SHG products
• Objective: Shift from credit-based support to ownership-based entrepreneurship, enabling market access and scalability
• Implementation: Under the Ministry of Rural Development, strengthening rural supply chains
• Concept: Retail outlets operated by Self-Help Groups (SHGs) / Cluster Level Federations (CLFs) to sell products like handicrafts, food items, farm produce, and apparel
• Key Focus: Reduce middlemen dependence and ensure better price realisation for women entrepreneurs
• Vision: Transition rural women from beneficiaries to business owners, building on initiatives like Lakhpati Didi.

Lakhpati Didi Initiative

• About: A Lakhpati Didi is an SHG member earning ₹1 lakh+ annual household income (₹10,000+ monthly) sustained over multiple cycles
• Implemented under: DAY-NRLM (Ministry of Rural Development)
• Objective: Promote women empowerment through sustainable livelihoods and income enhancement

Bharat VISTAAR – 

• About: Multilingual AI-based advisory platform enabling farmers to get real-time agricultural guidance via mobile
• Objective: Promote technology-driven, accessible, and affordable farming with personalised advisory
• Integration: Combines AgriStack, ICAR knowledge, IMD weather data, market prices, and govt schemes
• Services: Advisory on seeds, fertilisers, irrigation, soil, credit, insurance, and schemes.

Biopharma SHAKTI Scheme

• About: A government initiative to strengthen India’s biopharmaceutical sector, focusing on biologics and biosimilars
• Launch & Outlay: Announced with an allocation of ₹10,000 crore over 5 years
• Objective: Build a globally competitive ecosystem for biologics and biosimilars, ensuring affordable healthcare and positioning India as a global biopharma hub.
• Regulatory Reform: Strengthening CDSCO for faster and global-standard approvals
• Goal: Boost domestic innovation, reduce import dependence, and enhance global competitiveness.

Orange Economy (Creative Economy)

Definition: Economy based on creativity, culture, and intellectual property (IP) rather than physical resources

Core Idea: Value creation through knowledge-based and cultural industries

Key Sectors:

• AVGC-XR (Animation, VFX, Gaming, Comics, Extended Reality)
• Film, music, fashion, design, advertising
• Performing arts and cultural tourism

Global Significance: Contributes about 3% of global GDP and generates ~30 million jobs

India’s Growth:

• Creator economy growing at 18% CAGR (₹19B → ₹34B by 2026)
• Media & entertainment sector expected to reach $47.2 billion by 2029

e-Shram Portal –

• Launched by: Ministry of Labour & Employment
• Objective: Create a national database of unorganised workers to enable targeted delivery of welfare schemes
• Coverage: Aims to register 38 crore unorganised workers (construction workers, migrants, street vendors, domestic workers, etc.)
• e-Shram Card: Workers receive a 12-digit unique identification number
• Social Security Benefit:
  • ₹2 lakh for death/permanent disability
  • ₹1 lakh for partial disability
• Background: Launched following Supreme Court direction to ensure welfare access for unorganised workers
• Implementation: Registration carried out by States/UTs across India