Union Budget 2026 Live Updates: FM Nirmala Sitharaman presents budget in Lok Sabha

Ramesh Nair, Managing Director & CEO, Mindspace Business Parks REIT

“Budget 2026 signals that India’s next phase of growth will be powered by deeper capital markets and faster infrastructure creation. Easing foreign individual participation in Indian equities, alongside dedicated REIT structures for CPSE asset monetisation, strengthens the pipeline for long-term institutional capital across real estate and infrastructure. The push to develop City Economic Regions, supported by high-speed connectivity corridors linking Mumbai, Pune Hyderabad and Chennai expands the addressable opportunity for organised commercial real estate by enabling the formation of new business districts.

The Budget’s focus on strategic sectors such as biopharma and semiconductors reinforces India’s ambition to be a global hub for advanced manufacturing and R&D ecosystems. The Scheme for Enhancement of Construction and Infrastructure Equipment should also improve execution capacity and timelines across the development cycle.

Critically, measures that support the digital economy — including safe-harbour clarity for IT services and a long-tenor tax holiday till 2047 for foreign cloud service providers setting up data centres in India — improve policy certainty, attract long-duration global capital, and create durable tailwinds for REITs through stronger occupier demand and deeper liquidity.”

Budget sets aside Rs 1.4 lakh crore for states as Finance Commission grants

The Union Budget for 2026-27 provides an allocation of Rs 1.4 lakh crore to the states as Finance Commission Grants based on a 41 per cent share of the devolution.

Presenting the Union Budget 2026-27 in Parliament on Sunday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said: "The government has accepted the recommendation of the Commission to retain the vertical share of devolution at 41 per cent. As recommended by the Commission, I have provided Rs 1.4 lakh crore to the States for the FY 2026-27 as Finance Commission Grants. These include rural and urban local body and disaster management grants."

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A youth power budget, reflects dreams, determination, energy of young India: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday hailed the Union Budget 2026-27, calling it a "highway of immense opportunities" and said that the "Reform Express" on which India is riding, "will gain new energy and momentum through this budget".

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented her ninth consecutive Union Budget on Sunday, motivated by three 'kartavyas' or duties aimed at boosting and maintaining economic growth by improving competitiveness, meeting aspirations, and ensuring that every family, community, and region has access to resources and opportunities for engagement.

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Budget ensures ease of living for taxpayers, new Income Tax Act from April 1

New Delhi: To ensure ease of living for taxpayers, the Union Budget 2026-27 on Sunday announced a range of proposals on direct taxes, saying that the Income Tax Act, 2025, is slated to come into effect from April 1, 2026.

The simplified rules and forms will be notified in due course, giving adequate time to taxpayers to acquaint themselves with their requirements. The forms have been redesigned for simpler understanding and compliance for ordinary citizens.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also proposed that any interest awarded by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal to a natural person will be exempt from Income Tax, and any TDS on this account will be done away with. Read More...

Debt-to-GDP ratio estimated to be 55.6 pc of GDP in 2026-27: FM

New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday said that the debt-to-GDP ratio is estimated to be 55.6 per cent of GDP in 2026-27 (budget estimate or BE), compared to 56.1 per cent of GDP in 2025-26 (revised estimate or RE).

A declining debt-to-GDP ratio will gradually free up resources for priority sector expenditure by reducing the outgo on interest payments.

"Government has been delivering on fiscal commitments consistently without compromising on social needs," FM Sitharaman said while presenting the Budget 2026-27 in the Parliament.

Sitharaman informed the Parliament that the commitment made in FY 2021-22 to reduce fiscal deficit below 4.5 per cent of GDP by 2025-26 has been fulfilled. Read More...

No change in income tax slabs in Union Budget 2026

New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday presented the Union Budget 2026, keeping income tax rates and slabs unchanged following last year’s major tax reforms.

While the basic tax structure remains the same, the FM announced several measures aimed at simplifying tax compliance and providing relief to taxpayers.

The FM proposed extending the timeline for revising income tax returns from December 31 to March 31 with a nominal fee.

FM Sitharaman also suggested staggered deadlines for filing returns: individuals using ITR‑1 and ITR‑2 will continue to file by July 31, while non-audit business cases and trusts will have time until August 31. Read More...

Good news for companies establishing data centres in India

- Tax holiday granted to data centre companies until 2047.

This tax benefit is expected to offer substantial advantages to cloud service providers operating in the country.

Union Budget: Govt proposes dedicated freight corridor between Gujarat's Surat and Dankuni in poll-bound Bengal

New Delhi: Presenting the Budget for 2026-27 on Sunday, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed a dedicated freight corridor connecting Surat in Gujarat and Dankuni in West Bengal.

The new freight corridor will establish a direct link between the two states, setting up new corridors for logistics and freight movement.

The Finance Minister also proposed to operationalise 20 new national waterways over the next five years, to promote an environmentally sustainable route for cargo movement. Read More...

New Delhi: In a major step toward India's net-zero ambitions, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a substantial allocation of Rs 20,000 crore over the next five years for Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) technologies in the Union Budget 2026-27 presented on February 1.

This funding aims to accelerate the deployment of CCUS in hard-to-abate industrial sectors, positioning the country to meet its climate commitments while maintaining economic growth.

CCUS involves capturing carbon dioxide emissions from industrial sources, utilising the captured CO2 in products like chemicals or enhanced oil recovery, or storing it permanently underground to prevent atmospheric release. The technology is crucial for decarbonising sectors where emissions are difficult to eliminate through renewables alone, such as power generation, steel production, cement manufacturing, refineries, and chemicals.  Read More..

New Income Tax Act 2025 to come into effect from April 1, key reliefs announced

New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday said that the Income Tax Act 2025 will come into effect from April 1, 2026, and the I-T forms have been redesigned such that ordinary citizens can comply without difficulty for ease of living.

The new measures include exemption on insurance interest awards, nil deduction certificates for small taxpayers, and extension of the ITR filing deadline for non-audit cases to August 31.

Individuals with ITR 1 and ITR 2 will continue to file I-T returns till July 31. Read More...