Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget for 2026-27 today, Sunday, February 1, 2026. This marks a historic occasion as it is the first time in recent history that the budget has been presented on a Sunday.
Here are the key highlights and announcements.
- Taxation & Customs
Income Tax: No changes were announced to the existing income tax slabs. However, the Finance Minister announced that the New Tax Act will be implemented starting April 1, 2026.
Personal Imports: A major proposal was made to reduce the tariff rate on all dutiable goods imported for personal use from 20% to 10%.
Customs Duty Relief:
Basic customs duty exemption on components for civilian aircraft and seaplane manufacturing.
Exemptions extended for lithium-ion cell manufacturing (critical for electronics and EVs) and biogas blended CNG.
Duty benefits announced for inputs used in seafood, leather, and textile exports to boost competitiveness. - Fiscal & Economic Targets
Fiscal Deficit: The target for FY27 is estimated at 4.3% of GDP (narrowing from 4.4% in FY26).
Capital Expenditure (Capex): The target has been raised to ₹12.2 lakh crore for FY27 (up from ₹11.2 lakh crore), continuing the focus on infrastructure-led growth.
Defence: The defence budget saw a significant jump to ₹7.8 lakh crore, with a 15% increase in overall allocation and a focused outlay for modernization. - Sectoral Announcements
Technology & Digital: A proposal for a Tax Holiday until 2047 for foreign companies providing cloud services using data centers in India.
Education: Plans to establish five University townships and set up one girls’ hostel in every district.
Infrastructure: A dedicated East Coast Industrial Corridor was proposed, along with a scheme to develop Buddhist circuits in the Northeast (Arunachal, Sikkim, Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, and Tripura).
Health: A new initiative to train 1 lakh allied health professionals over the next five years. - Market Update
Stock Markets: Both the BSE and NSE remained open today (Sunday) for a special trading session to react to the budget presentation live.
STT Increase: A proposal to raise the Securities Transaction Tax (STT) on Futures to 0.05% (from 0.02%) was noted.