Archives 2026

Mr. Neeraj Akhoury Managing Director, Shree Cement Limited

“The Union Budget’s strong focus on infrastructure and balanced regional growth is encouraging. The proposed Infrastructure Risk Guarantee Fund will boost lender confidence and help attract private investment. Increased allocations for high speed rail, Tier II and Tier III cities, and temple towns will drive sustained demand across the construction sector. The support for CCUS is timely and reinforces the importance of clean technologies in decarbonising hard to abate industries.”

Anand, Feb 02: Dr. Meenesh Shah, Chairman, National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) hailed the Union Budget 2026-27 as truly transformative, noting its initiatives to enhance farmers’ incomes, promote entrepreneurship in animal husbandry and dairying and strengthen cooperatives – key steps toward realising the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047 and fostering inclusive economic growth.

Recognized as the growth engine of agriculture and allied activities providing livelihoods to rural households, the animal husbandry sector has received a significant boost in the Union Budget 2026–27, with an allocation of Rs 6,153.46 crore – up 16% from last year. The Budget also announced a Rs 500 crore Integrated Scheme for Entrepreneurship Development to expand employment through credit-linked subsidies, modernise livestock enterprises, build integrated dairy and poultry value chains and promote Livestock Farmer Producer Organisations, thereby fostering entrepreneurship and rural development.

 The Budget will add 20,000 veterinary professionals and through a loan-linked subsidy scheme, support new veterinary and private colleges, hospitals, labs, and breeding facilities. Targeting India’s 53 crore livestock, including 30 crore dairy animals, the initiative also encourages global collaborations to drive innovation. Dr Meenesh Shah hailed it as a milestone for the sector.

 In addition to the existing provision allowing full deduction of profits and gains for primary cooperative societies engaged in supplying milk, oilseeds, fruits, or vegetables raised by their members, this benefit has now been extended to cattle feed. With primary cooperatives selling about 102 lakh metric tonnes of cattle feed annually, this move will significantly reduce their tax burden, ensuring better returns for farmer members. India’s dairy cooperatives already return over 75% of the consumer rupee to producers, and this initiative will further enhance pay-outs, putting more money directly into farmers’ hands.

Chairman, NDDB welcomed the Budget move allowing inter-cooperative society dividend income as deduction under the new tax regime to the extent it is further distributed to its members, fostering investments in multistate cooperatives under Sahkar se Samriddhi. A three-year exemption on dividend income for notified national cooperative federations on their investments made in companies up to 31.01.2026, if further distributed to its members cooperatives, will further strengthen profitability and enable higher pay-outs to member institutions.

The Centralized Bio-CNG Model turns dairy waste into clean transport fuel and organic fertilizer, advancing circular economy goals. As announced in the Union Budget, the entire value of biogas while calculating the Central Excise duty payable on biogas blended CNG to be excluded which will be a major boost for scaling large Bio-CNG models nationwide, strengthening sustainability and promoting natural farming through organic fertilizer by-products.

In a nutshell, Chairman, NDDB described the Union Budget 2026–27 as one that ticks all the right boxes – providing impetus to agriculture, dairy and allied sectors, improving capital efficiency, reducing tax distortions across cooperatives and thereby boosting farmers’ incomes and employment opportunities.

Mr. Ajit Chauhan, Chairman, Amity University Online

“The rise in education spending to ₹1,39,289 crore in Budget 2026–27, an 8.27% increase over last year, signals a strong national resolve to build future-ready human capital through sustained investment in learning.

The creation of the high-powered Education to Employment and Enterprise Standing Committee is a timely step, especially with its focus on the services sector as a growth engine for Viksit Bharat. By assessing how emerging technologies like AI are reshaping jobs and skill requirements, it can keep curricula and career pathways aligned with real market demand and help institutions respond faster. The priority now is outcome-led implementation and wider, high-quality online participation so future-ready skills scale beyond a few campuses.

These proposed measures will help make India’s talent pipeline a global growth engine, powering our country’s next phase of productivity, innovation, and competitiveness.”

“India’s approach to AI is becoming more grounded and outcome-focused. By positioning AI and emerging technologies as growth multipliers rather than a prestige race, the focus shifts to human-AI collaboration. Further, the proposal to set up a committee to review AI’s impact on the services sector with the ambition of capturing 10% of global services exports by 2047 highlights the scale of opportunity ahead and makes one thing clear: large-scale upskilling is a non-negotiable so the workforce can use AI confidently, ethically, and productively. Regulation will matter, but real value will come from enabling talent to apply AI effectively in everyday work.”

The trade facilitation measures announced in the Union Budget represent a landmark shift in India’s approach to global commerce. By placing systemic trust and digital integration at the core of reforms, the government has laid a strong foundation for a more resilient, agile, and globally competitive export-import ecosystem.

A key highlight is the transition towards a fully digital, trust-based customs framework. The adoption of AI-enabled scanning, faster clearances, and more predictable regulatory rulings goes beyond improving efficiency—it enhances transparency, reduces uncertainty, and gives businesses the confidence needed for long-term investment and operational planning.

Several measures directly address long-standing challenges in cross-border trade. The removal of value caps on courier exports and the simplification of duty structures significantly ease compliance for MSMEs, e-commerce exporters, and individuals, who have long faced confusion around varied duty rates. These reforms will help expand India’s global trade footprint by removing procedural and value-related constraints.

The introduction of seamless export returns and “Return-to-Origin” processes further reduces risk, cost, and congestion in international trade. This improves shipper confidence, accelerates resolution in non-clearance scenarios, and creates a more business-friendly trading environment.

Equally impactful is the integration of SEZ clearances through ECCS, ICEGATE, and ICES, which strengthens India’s digital trade infrastructure and enables Special Economic Zones to operate in a more frictionless and globally competitive manner. This also sets the stage for streamlined clearances across EOU, IGCRD, MOOWR, and similar schemes via courier channels.

Finally, the strengthening of the Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) framework through a 30-day deferred duty payment option is a significant boost to working capital efficiency and provides a strong incentive for higher compliance standards.

Taken together, these measures signal a decisive move towards a modern, trust-based, and technology-driven trade ecosystem—reinforcing India’s ambition to emerge as a preferred global trade and logistics hub.

By:  Shiv Parekh, Founder and CEO, hBits

“The Union Budget 2026 sends a positive signal for India’s investment ecosystem. The 12.2 trillion rupee allocation for infrastructure and introducing a dedicated REITs for monetising CPSE assets can help unlock private capital and improve market liquidity. This opens up more stable, yield-focused investment opportunities for both institutional and retail investors.

At hBits, we see this as an important step toward making real estate and infrastructure investing more accessible and transparent.

New Delhi, Feb 1: Today Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented Govt. of India’s budget for year 2026-27 in the Indian Parliament.

This budget has proposed to provide a tax holiday up to 2047 to any foreign company who provides services to any part of the world outside India by procuring data centre services in India. In addition, it is also proposed to provide a safe harbour of 15% to the resident entity providing data centre services to a related foreign company.

Sumant Parimal, Chief Analyst of 5 Jewels Research (5JR) at Innogress has hailed this and other provisions under the Union Budget of Govt. of India, and said that tax holiday for the Indian Data Centers in budget Is a core sector moment for AI.

Giving his analyst outlook on Indian Budget 2026 presented today in the Indian Parliament by FM Nirmala Sitharaman, Chief Analyst of 5 Jewel Research at Innogress Mr Sumant Parimal, has said

“During year 2022 pre-budget outlook I emphasized need for according strategic sector status to AI (Artificial Intelligence) in line with core sectors like Electricity, Coal, Steel, Gas, Telecommunication, now I am happy to see that Govt. of India has understood this and has provisioned tax holidays till 2047 for Data Centers getting setup in India for the global markets. I see this tax holiday provisioned in this year budget for Indian data centers as equivalent to according a strategic and core sector status to AI, which gets hosted and accesses through these data centers, in line with my pre-budget outlook for year 2022. This provision of Govt. of India to waive off tax on Data Centers for international markets is not only going to boost Big Tech.’s & MNC’s Data Centers footprints in India but shall also boost attractiveness of domestic firm’s data centers capacities in the pipeline for receiving foreign collaborations and investments interests” said Mr Sumant Parimal.

“Further this tax holiday provision is going to expand data center capacity additions in India, which in turn going to trigger semiconductors, electronics and other IT-engineering related components demands in India, and I am happy to see that this semiconductor-electronics demand trigger has been proactively addressed by Govt. Of India by announcing India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) 2.0 with a budgetary outlay of Rs. 1000 Cr and additional budgetary outlay of Rs. 40,000 Cr for Electronics Components Manufacturing Scheme (ECMS)in FY 2026-27” Mr Sumant Parimal said.

Mr Sumant Parimal also hailed other provisions of the budget which includes ‘Bharat-VISTAAR’-a multilingual AI tool to enhance farm productivity, improve farmer decision making and reduce risk through customized advisory support, and to support the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies, Mumbai in setting up AVGC Content Creator AI Labs in 15,000 secondary schools and 500 colleges in furtherance of India’s Orange economy and termed these provisions of the budget a right step towards achieving “AI For ALL” for which he is emphasizing since 2019.

Chief Analyst of 5 Jewels Research also hailed the Indian government plans to launch a Customs Integrated System (CIS) within two years to streamline all customs operations, as announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during the Union Budget 2026-27 and termed it as most pressing AI-Technology led business transformation in governance for ease of doing businesses by reducing bureaucracy, which is a big relief to Enterprises, SMEs and R&D labs which are importing critical equipment, devices and components from overseas under extreme time and budgetary constraints. Mr. Sumant Parimal termed this ‘CIS’ initiative as catalyst to integrate India based deep tech. GCCs (Global Capability Centers) / research centers in the Global supply chain because customs clearances were a big bottleneck in the inbound and outbound supply chains at the Indian ports.

Roby John, CEO & Co-founder of SuperGaming, commented on the Union Budget 2026–27

“At SuperGaming, we engage closely with students and young creators, witnessing their immense talent firsthand. What India needed was access, tools, and belief in our potential to develop original IP domestically. The Union Budget 2026–27 is a strong step in that direction.

By establishing AVGC Content Creator Labs in 15,000 schools and 500 colleges, in partnership with IICT, the government is building a robust pipeline for the next generation of game developers, artists, and storytellers. This initiative is crucial because India’s gaming and digital entertainment future will be driven by original Indian IP, not just consumption.

Formal recognition of the AVGC-XR sector provides long-term stability for the industry, empowering studios like ours to invest with confidence. These policy measures are exactly what India needs to transition from being a consumption-driven market to a global creator of high-quality games and digital entertainment.”

Mr. Chandra Kishore Thakur, Global CEO, Sterling and Wilson Renewable Energy Group

“We feel that this budget has rightly prioritized India’s energy security, especially the increasing role of renewables towards fulfilling this objective over the long term. 

The relief in customs duty for the import of sodium antimonate used in the manufacture of solar glass is a step in the right direction. This move will reduce input costs for solar panel manufacturers and thereby augment domestic solar equipment production, giving an impetus to the entire sector in terms of atmanirbharta.

The extending of basic customs duty exemption for capital goods used for manufacturing Lithium-Ion Cells for batteries, and to those used for manufacturing Lithium-Ion Cells for battery energy storage systems (BESS) is also a welcome decision. We must remember that BESS significantly enhances the viability of solar power by addressing its intermittency and enabling efficient energy management. BESS stores excess solar generation for use during low-production periods, thereby augmenting overall system reliability and economics in the solar industry.

With these new measures, we are certain that renewable energy will play a vital role in India’s sustainable development, powering economic growth while reducing dependence on imported fossil fuels.”

Mr. Rakesh Markhedkar, CMD, Vikran Engineering Limited

“We welcome the Union Budget 2026–27 and appreciate the government’s continued focus on infrastructure-led growth across physical and digital assets. The policy direction and long-term visibility provided in this Budget create a strong foundation for sustained investment in the infrastructure sector.

The 20-year tax holiday for data centres and cloud infrastructure, along with measures such as safe harbour norms for IT and data centre services, is a significant step that will accelerate investments in large-scale data centre development across the country. This is expected to drive substantial demand for EPC capabilities in power, cooling, civil, and integrated infrastructure, creating meaningful opportunities for companies like ours.

At the same time, initiatives such as the Infrastructure Risk Guarantee Fund, new dedicated freight corridors connecting the East and West, the Purvodaya integrated East Coast industrial corridor, seven high-speed rail corridors, the India Semiconductor Mission 2.0, revival of legacy industrial clusters, and the scheme for enhancement of construction and infrastructure equipment collectively expand the execution landscape for mid-sized EPC players. Vikran Engineering sees this Budget as an opportunity to actively participate in building both India’s physical infrastructure and its next-generation digital backbone.”

Mr. Shubham Jain, Group CEO, Infomerics Valuation and Rating Ltd.

“A meaningful step towards deepening India’s corporate and municipal bond markets by proposing a market-making framework, introducing new derivative instruments, and strengthening incentives for large municipal bond issuances while continuing support under the AMRUT scheme. These measures are expected to improve secondary market liquidity, broaden investor participation, and enhance price discovery, particularly for long-tenor and sub-sovereign issuances. Importantly, the Government’s continued emphasis on fiscal prudence and calibrated borrowing is reassuring for debt markets, as it helps contain crowding-out risks and anchors investor confidence. Together, these initiatives should encourage greater bond market participation by India Inc. and urban local bodies, while reinforcing the role of bonds as a sustainable and diversified funding avenue.”