Union Budget 2026-27

"Finance Minister’s announcement to develop industrial corridors across Odisha, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu reinforces the government’s vision to reduce import dependency for manufacturing components critical to the EV ecosystem. This development will accelerate the rollout of the INR 7,280‑crore scheme announced in 2025, which aims to expand India’s capabilities from mining to the entire value‑chain system, strengthening domestic manufacturing and enabling end‑to‑end value creation."

Saket Mehra,
Partner and Auto & EV Industry Leader, Grant Thornton Bharat

"Several key plantation crops have been struggling with low productivity, limited area under cultivation, and high import dependency. The renewed focus on crops such as cocoa, coconut, and cashew will help the government reduce the import bill while enhancing farmers’ incomes and boosting exports."

Chirag Jain,
Partner, Agri & Allied offering leader, Food processing industry leader, Grant Thornton Bharat

"With passenger traffic projected to reach 665 million annually by FY31, cost efficiency and local capacity are critical. The intent is clear to boost India's aircraft manufacturing and MRO industry and position India for a larger role in the global aviation sector."

Ashish Chhawchharia,
Partner and Aviation Industry Leader, Grant Thornton Bharat

"Instead of sharp tariff cuts across fewer slabs, the approach this year is clearly targeted. Sectors such as textiles, leather, energy, nuclear and defence have seen duty corrections aligned with the broader goal of strengthening domestic manufacturing and exports.”

Krishan Arora,
Partner and India Investment Advisory Leader, Grant Thornton Bharat

"The government has prioritised economic expansion across key industrial and strategic sectors.

He highlighted renewed thrust on biopharma manufacturing hubs, Semiconductor ISM 2.0, electronic component manufacturing, rare earth minerals, chemical parks, capital goods, container manufacturing, textiles (man-made and technical), global sports goods, champion MSMEs and ship repair.

The Budget includes measures to strengthen domestic lithium-ion battery production for mobiles and EVs, add products to the capital goods exemption list, and provide BCD exemptions on critical minerals not available locally. In healthcare, customs duty relief on 17 cancer drugs and expanded duty-free imports for rare disease treatment aim to reduce patient burden.

Bararia added that GST and customs reforms, including automated export clearances and amended Place of Supply rules, will boost trade efficiency and IT competitiveness."

Sohrab Bararia,
Partner, India Investment Advisory, Grant Thornton Bharat

"With capabilities like real-time weather forecasts, pest detection, multilingual chatbots and seamless access to government support, the platform can help farmers anticipate challenges rather than react to them.”

Akshay Garkel,
Partner and Cyber Monitoring & Response Leader, Grant Thornton Bharat

"The current Budget marks a shift from general, supply-driven skilling schemes to a demand-driven approach focused on job-relevant skills."

Ashok Varma,
Partner, Grant Thornton Bharat

"The government’s decision to allocate INR 20,000 crore for higher readiness of CCUS technologies is a powerful and long-awaited step in India’s decarbonisation journey. Building on the CCUS Roadmap released in December 2025, this move will accelerate the shift from promising pilots to real, scalable industrial deployment.

It will strengthen technology maturity and unlock end-use applications across power, steel, cement, refining and chemicals. This thoughtful allocation highlights a clear understanding of what industry needs today and sends a reassuring signal that India is preparing its heavy industries for a lower-carbon future with confidence and clarity."

Pradeep Singhvi,
Executive Director, Energy and Climate Practice, Grant Thornton Bharat

"The proposed reforms will span commercial and co‑operative banks alike, and the establishment of a high‑level committee on banking will help drive this agenda. Overall, this is a significant credit‑positive development for the banking sector."

Vivek Iyer,
Partner and Financial Services Risk Leader, Grant Thornton Bharat

"The textile measures announced in the Budget 2026–27 represent an effort to drive a coordinated push to modernise India’s textile ecosystem across the value chain. This approach links raw material security and sustainability with skilling, scale, and advanced manufacturing capabilities, while preserving employment-intensive segments. If executed in an integrated manner, these interventions can shift the sector from fragmented, labour‑heavy production towards higher‑value, technology‑driven growth aligned with global sourcing and sustainability trends."

Naveen Malpani,
Partner and Consumer Industry Leader, Grant Thornton Bharat

"Removing basic customs duty on 17 high-cost cancer drugs (such as Ibrutinib, Ponatinib, Dabrafenib, Trametinib, Toripalimab, Ipilimumab) is a major relief for patients. Many of these therapies cost anywhere between ₹20,000 and ₹1.5 lakh per month (in India).”

Bhanu Prakash Kalmath,
Partner and Healthcare Services Industry Leader, Grant Thornton Bharat

"Targeted support for data centres, AI-driven content creation, AVGC studios and IP ownership would allow Indian creators and platforms to retain value rather than export it."

Ananay Jain,
Partner, Risk Optimisation, Grant Thornton Bharat

"The proposed dedicated rare earth corridors aim to integrate mining, processing, R&D, and manufacturing, addressing the weakest link in India's energy transition: value-chain depth. Complemented by customs duty exemptions for capital goods in critical minerals processing, nuclear projects, lithium-ion cells and battery storage systems, and solar glass manufacturing, these measures advance India's strategic self-reliance in minerals and chemicals crucial for EVs, renewables, nuclear power, defence, and advanced manufacturing."

Suvendu Bose,
Partner and Metals and Mining Industry, Grant Thornton Bharat

"Biopharma Shakti is not just another government scheme—it marks the moment India moves from being the world’s back-office pharmacy to becoming an innovation engine. The future of Indian pharma is not only about making medicines more affordable, but also about making them more advanced. India is shifting from ‘Make in India’ for volume to ‘Discover in India’ for value."

Dr. Santosh Moses,
Partner, Health & Human Services, Grant Thornton Bharat

"The INR 10,000 crore outlay under Biopharma Shakti will significantly accelerate India’s transition towards innovation-driven pharmaceuticals by strengthening research infrastructure, advanced technology hubs, and clinical standards, enabling progress in biologics, vaccines, and next-generation therapies. It will enhance domestic capacity, lower the cost of life-saving biologics, and support broader healthcare affordability- critical as India faces a rising burden of non-communicable diseases."

Nilesh Maheshwari,
Partner, Health & Human Services

"Monetising public-sector undertaking (PSU) real estate through REITs may give significant liquidity to the government. REITs give participation to retail investors for real estate assets. PSUs have a large chunk of those, and this will help them in raising money from retail investors."

Chetan Chichra,
Partner, Grant Thornton Bharat

"The foreign asset disclosure scheme announced in Budget 2026 represents a pragmatic step toward strengthening tax transparency. By offering a one‑time, six‑month window, the Government enables specified taxpayers—including students and individuals with past non‑disclosures—to regularise disclosure & reporting of overseas income and assets. With thresholds of INR 1 crore for complete non‑disclosure an to regularise disclosure & reporting of overseas income and assets. With thresholds of INR 1 crore for complete non‑disclosure and INR 5 crore for cases where income was reported but foreign assets were not, the scheme provides a structured mechanism to take corrective steps.

• Granting immunity from Prosecution in cases of non-disclosure of non‑immovable foreign assets below INR 20 lakh, retrospectively from 1 October 2024, further reinforces Government’s focus on simplifying compliances for small taxpayers.
• This initiative enables students and select taxpayers tovoluntarily correct past positions and move toward transparent financial reporting.
• Eligible individuals should review past filings and consider voluntary disclosure within the window to ensure long‑term compliance and avoid implications such as penalty and prosecution."

Akhil Chandna,
Partner and Global People Solutions Leader, Grant Thornton Bharat

"Budget 2026 powers growth in manufacturing, infrastructure, and emerging tech
 
Budget 2026, framed as an extension of GST 2.0 reforms, aims to rationalise tariffs, bolster domestic manufacturing, boost exports, streamline trade, and improve ease of doing business. Key initiatives include support for domestic lithium‑ion battery production for mobile phones and EVs, exemptions for critical minerals and select cancer drugs.

The Budget also promises end‑to‑end automated clearance for e‑sealed export cargo, time‑bound provisional customs assessments, and a trust‑based import regime to encourage voluntary compliance, steps expected to enhance operational efficiency for traders.

Anticipated GST changes on post‑supply credit notes and place of supply rules for intermediary services, together with incentives for cloud services via Indian data centres, are designed to sharpen competitiveness and reinforce India’s role as a global IT hub.'

Krishan Arora,
Partner and India Investment Advisory Leader, Grant Thornton Bharat

"The new regime under the Income-tax Act is closely aligned with the government’s focus on simplifying the tax system by eliminating various deductions and exemptions."

Riaz Thingna,
Partner, Tax Planning & Optimisation, Grant Thornton Bharat

"Rationalisation of exemptions and the integration of effective rates into the tariff structure are likely to reduce interpretational disputes and provide much-needed certainty to businesses, supporting productivity and global competitiveness."

Manoj Mishra,
Partner and Tax Controversy Management Leader, Grant Thornton Bharat

"Crucially, by extending support beyond fabs to equipment, materials, and full-stack IP, the mission addresses a key bottleneck in India’s tech ecosystem control over critical technologies. Over the long term, it positions India not just as a downstream adopter but as a creator of foundational digital infrastructure, driving resilient exports, higher-value innovation, and sustained competitiveness in the global technology economy."

Raja Lahiri,
Partner and Technology Industry Leader, Grant Thornton Bharat

"The freight corridor is designed to support long-haul, high-volume cargo movement, addressing capacity and reliability constraints in cross-regional logistics, while the high-speed rail corridors aim to enhance passenger mobility between major urban centres. Taken together, these interventions reflect a network-level approach to rail planning, where freight efficiency, passenger speed and sustainability objectives are pursued in parallel rather than competing for the same capacity."

Bhavik Vora,
Partner and Transportation & Logistics Industry Leader, Grant Thornton Bharat