Budget ensures policy continuity while boosting manufacturing, say experts
The Union Budget 2026–27 ensures policy continuity while boosting manufacturing, sunrise sectors and MSMEs to support growth and employment, opined experts on Sunday. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a slew of measures to boost manufacturing, a tax holiday for global data centres, and incentives for the agriculture and tourism sectors as she unveiled a Rs 53.5-lakh crore Budget seen as a long-term blueprint for sustaining growth amid rising global risks. Sticking to fiscal discipline and shunning populist measures despite five key states, including West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, heading to polls soon, her Budget for the fiscal year beginning April, however, rattled stock markets, with a higher transaction tax on derivatives trading weighing on sentiment. ''The Union Budget 2026-27 maintains policy continuity, tax predictability, while attempting a fine balancing act between rural and urban, legacy and sunrise sectors. ''Structurally, the budget has continued its focus on emerging sectors with notable scaling up in manufacturing, coupled with focus on semiconductors, data centre, AI and infrastructure,'' said Challa Sreenivasulu Setty, Chairman, SBI, and Chairman, IBA.