Union Budget 2026 reflects a clear shift towards building long-term resilience
Team L&M
Union Budget 2026 has triggered a wide range of reactions from different industries, with stakeholders weighing in on its implications for economic growth, fiscal discipline, and social welfare. While the government has pitched the budget as a roadmap for sustained development and inclusive growth, experts offer mixed assessments, praising select reforms while flagging concerns over implementation and long-term impact.
Rajesh Rokde, Chairman, All India Gem & Jewellery Domestic Council (GJC)
The Union Budget 2026–27 reflects a stable and sensitive approach towards the Gems & Jewellery industry. The absence of any increase in customs duty or GST, continued policy certainty, strong MSME and cluster support, ease-of-doing-business measures, and litigation-reducing income-tax reforms together provide confidence to the trade and reinforce the Government’s recognition of our sector as a key contributor to employment, exports, and economic growth.
Avinash Gupta, Vice Chairman, All India Gem & Jewellery Domestic Council (GJC)
The Gems & Jewellery trade welcomes the Union Budget 2026-27. The absence of any increase in customs duty, combined with strong MSME support, improved access to finance, simplified income-tax compliance, and enhanced ease-of-doing-business measures, will enable jewellers across the value chain to plan confidently and focus on sustainable growth amid global uncertainties.
Anil Joshi, Managing Partner, Unicorn India Ventures
Indian Semicon is at a very nascent stage and needs a lot of hand holding and policy support, ISM 2.0 will certainly help in mushrooming genuine Semicon use cases and will make India self reliant. Additionally ₹ 40000 CR deployment for electronic components will help resolving supply issues for development. Both the initiatives will help the industry a lot, great policy decision by FM
The launch of Bharat Vistaar will go a long way in helping the farming sector, the combination of real time data from satellite and AI application can help farmers take informed decisions in improvings farm productivity and also different mix of produce. The announcement of 4 telescope centres will be a big help to astro physics and study the celestial objects and built India’s own self reliant mechanism to study the space and development of respective projects’.
Manu Iyer, General Partner and Co-founder, Bluehill.VC
The launch of India Semiconductor Mission 2.0 in the Union Budget 2026-27 is a watershed moment for India’s technology and manufacturing landscape. By significantly expanding support for domestic semiconductor equipment, materials, design, and supply-chain capabilities, ISM 2.0 will accelerate India’s journey towards self-reliance in advanced chips and position the country as a globally competitive semiconductor hub. Coupled with the strategic decision to establish dedicated rare earth corridors across mineral-rich states — strengthening mining, processing, research and manufacturing of critical minerals — this Budget not only deepens the foundation for high-tech growth but also enhances supply-chain resilience in sectors from electronics to defense and clean energy. Together, these initiatives will drive innovation, high-skilled employment, and India’s role in resilient global value chains.
Hitesh Jirawla, Founder & CEO, Cubictree
There has been a huge push from the Govt of India to digitise the courts in India, Now with the legal sector standing at the junction of a quantum leap. The convergence of the India AI Mission with ₹ 10,000 Cr+ and the government’s aggressive push for R&D allows us to tackle the ‘Iron Triangle of legal tech: Cost, Speed and Accuracy. Having navigated this landscape for a decade and a half, we see the government’s multiple AI Innovation Fund is not just as a fund, but as a validation that Legal AI is the new infrastructure of a developed India.
Dr. Aisshwarya Panddit, Founder, Aura Edge Aesthetic
Budget 2026-27 marks a watershed moment for India’s health, wellness, and beauty industries. The Finance Minister’s emphasis on building a robust care ecosystem, coupled with significant investments in health infrastructure and services, creates unprecedented opportunities for our sector.
The announcement of five Medical Value Tourism Hubs in partnership with the private sector directly positions India as a global destination for wellness and aesthetic services. This initiative, combined with upgraded AYUSH facilities including three new All India Institutes of Ayurveda and enhanced certification ecosystems, validates the growing convergence of traditional wellness and modern beauty solutions.
The training of 1.5 lakh multiskilled caregivers through NSQF-aligned programs addresses our industry’s critical talent gap, while the establishment of Allied Health Professional institutions in ten disciplines will create a skilled workforce essential for premium wellness and beauty services.
The focus on the ‘Orange Economy’ with AVGC Content Creator Labs demonstrates government recognition of digital innovation in beauty and wellness marketing. Additionally, improved ease of doing business measures—including reduced TCS rates and streamlined compliance—will significantly benefit wellness tourism and beauty product imports. The ₹10,000 crore SME Growth Fund and enhanced MSME support through TReDS particularly empowers our sector’s numerous small enterprises, from boutique wellness centers to artisanal beauty brands. This budget’s people-centric approach, combining infrastructure development with skill enhancement and entrepreneurial support, creates a fertile ecosystem for the health, wellness, and beauty sector to flourish as we march toward Viksit Bharat 2047.
Rahul Shanker, Group CEO, Quest Retail (The Body Shop India)
The Union Budget reflects a clear shift towards building long-term resilience in India’s growth story. The emphasis on infrastructure development, services-led growth, and digital integration directly supports consumer-facing sectors such as beauty and personal care. Investments in manufacturing ecosystems, urban and regional economic clusters, and skills aligned to emerging technologies will strengthen supply chains and improve market access. For large retail and brand-led businesses, these measures create the right environment to expand responsibly into Tier-2, Tier-3 and rural markets, unlock new consumer demand, and accelerate the creation of globally competitive Indian brands. By supporting consumption and improving ease of doing business across the value chain, the Budget lays the groundwork for inclusive and sustained growth.
Shriti Malhotra, Executive Chairperson of Quest Retail
Budget 2026 moves decisively from welfare to ownership & action on women’s economic empowerment. She-Marts, building on Lakhpati Didi, shifts women from subsistence livelihoods to enterprise ownership by expanding market access and strengthening community-led retail. By aligning skilling, formalisation, and entrepreneurship, the Budget accelerates women’s leadership & empowerment across rural and urban economies and drives inclusive growth.
Mohit Goyal, Co Founder & Director, Swiss Beauty
The Union Budget 2026–27 meaningfully strengthens India’s retail and FMCG operating ecosystem by addressing critical growth enablers such as capital access, liquidity and ease of compliance. The ₹10,000 crore MSME and SME Growth Funds, along with enhanced liquidity through TReDS and credit guarantees, will significantly strengthen the backbone of customer-facing industries like beauty and personal care by improving working-capital efficiency and vendor resilience. For Swiss Beauty, which sources high-grade ingredients globally and adheres to stringent BIS-led quality and safety standards, the reduction of the tariff rate on all dutiable goods imported for personal use from 20% to 10%, alongside a more efficient trade and logistics environment, will support cost efficiencies, supply-chain flexibility, consistency, innovation and scalable growth. The Budget’s focus on infrastructure, services, skills, and consumption-led expansion across Tier-2 and Tier-3 markets lays a strong foundation for building globally competitive Indian beauty brands while enabling sustainable and inclusive growth.
Madhuri Sarda & Vidhi Bansal, Founder, Annantaa
We welcome the Government’s emphasis on long-term growth, infrastructure development, job creation, MSME support, education, healthcare capacity, and inclusive growth. They observed that such measures can significantly reduce economic stress and uncertainty for many citizens. Emphasising the link between economic stability and mental and emotional well-being, they noted that greater security around employment, skills, and access to basic services can help reduce chronic stress and foster resilience at both individual and community levels.
Ankit Virmani, Director, Esskay Beauty Resources
The Union Budget 2026 is a positive step for India’s beauty, personal care and salon industry, with a strong focus on MSMEs, skilling and entrepreneurship. The proposed SME Growth Fund and easier access to credit can be a real boost for new salons and independent beauty professionals, helping them grow sustainably and become part of the formal economy.
Support for domestic manufacturing, including chemical parks and reduced import dependency, will benefit the beauty and cosmetics sector by improving access to quality raw materials, stabilising supply chains and encouraging innovation.
The continued emphasis on education and industry-aligned skilling will help create a more job-ready workforce and open long-term career opportunities across salons, retail and manufacturing.
Sanket S, Founder, Scandalous Foods
The Union Budget 2026 brings practical positives for the frozen food and manufacturing sector. The focus on cold chain infrastructure and reducing post-harvest wastage, along with the ₹10,000 crore SME Growth Fund, will help brands like Scandalous Foods scale distribution while maintaining quality.
Doubling the startup credit guarantee limit to ₹20 crore and strengthening invoice discounting through TReDS will ease both capex expansion and cash flow challenges. The recognition of mental health through the NIMHANS 2.0 initiative, along with measures like raising the rental TDS threshold, makes this a balanced Budget that supports both business growth and the people behind it.”
Anant Bengani, Co-Founder & Director, Zell Education
The Union Budget 2026 makes a strong statement about linking education directly with employability and enterprise. The proposed ‘Education to Employment and Enterprise’ framework, focus on services-led growth, and emphasis on modular, industry-aligned professional courses signal a clear intent to make India’s youth job-ready and globally competitive. Initiatives that promote skill development, professional certifications, and university-industry collaboration will significantly strengthen the talent pipeline for sectors like finance, accounting and business services. We believe these measures will accelerate demand for outcome-driven education and career-focused learning, helping learners transition seamlessly from classrooms to the workforce.
Shivendra Nigam, CFO, Cantabil Retail India Ltd
We welcome the Union Budget 2026’s strong and much-needed focus on the textile and apparel ecosystem. The Government’s push towards modernising traditional clusters, setting up Mega Textile Parks, supporting technology upgradation, and strengthening skilling through initiatives like Samarth 2.0 will significantly enhance India’s competitiveness as a global manufacturing hub. The extension of export timelines and improved infrastructure will also ease supply chain challenges for organised apparel brands. These measures not only encourage domestic production but also create large-scale employment and consumption growth, which are critical for the retail sector.”
Pavan Kushwaha, CEO of Threatcop & Kratikal
We see the Union Budget 2026 as a strong, forward-looking step toward building a resilient, technology-first India. The push for AI adoption, industry-led research, and large-scale skilling—along with simpler tax and compliance frameworks for IT services creates a more enabling environment for faster digital innovation. As enterprises and government systems digitise at scale, secure, trusted infrastructure will become non-negotiable. In that context, the Budget’s focus on strengthening digital capabilities and modernising systems aligns directly with the growing need for cybersecurity, risk management, and People Security Management because technology is only as secure as the people using it. Overall, this Budget reinforces India’s ambition to become a global technology powerhouse, while keeping security and human risk reduction as core pillars of sustainable growth
Shubhendra Singh Thakur, CEO, Erlysign
The Budget signals a positive intent to strengthen India’s healthcare and biotechnology ecosystem, particularly through initiatives like Biopharma Shakti, which can play a meaningful role in advancing research, innovation, and domestic manufacturing. For health-tech and diagnostics startups, long-term funding support and a clear push toward innovation are essential to translating scientific breakthroughs into scalable, real-world solutions.
The steady increase in healthcare allocations over recent years, culminating in a higher outlay for FY26, reflects a growing recognition of the sector’s importance. Continued focus on health research, early detection, and preventive care will be critical in improving patient outcomes while also positioning India as a global hub for affordable and innovation-led healthcare.
M Nagappan, CEO, Telangana Life Sciences
Telangana has been setting the direction for the next phase of life sciences growth well ahead of the curve. Guided by the Hon’ble Chief Minister Shri Revanth Reddy’s long-term vision and Shri D. Sridhar Babu, Hon’ble Minister for Industries, Commerce and IT passionate leadership, our Life Sciences Policy 2026–30 anticipated this shift by prioritising advanced and complex manufacturing, deep innovation and R&D, and the creation of a strong, globally integrated clinical research and clinical trial network. The Union Budget’s focus on precisely these areas now amplifies this momentum, accelerating our goal of attracting USD 25 billion in investments and generating 500,000 jobs while reinforcing Hyderabad’s position as a global life sciences innovation hub.
Dr Sanket Mehta, Founder & Director, SSO Cancer Hospital
The Union Budget 2026–27 sends a clear signal that cancer care in India is moving closer to the patient. Investments in day-care cancer centres, expanded medical education, affordable access to life-saving drugs, and a stronger focus on preventive healthcare will significantly strengthen early diagnosis and improve treatment outcomes, especially beyond metro cities. For oncology, this marks an important step towards timely, outcome-driven cancer treatment that is accessible to all.
Dr Azad Moopen, Founder & Chairman, Aster DM Healthcare
Today’s Budget presents a thoughtful blueprint for the future of healthcare – one that integrates innovation, quality and global impact. The Biopharma Shakti initiative, with its focus on strengthening research, manufacturing and regulatory capacity, will accelerate India’s journey towards advanced and affordable healthcare solutions. The exemption of basic customs duty on select cancer drugs is a meaningful step that will improve access to life-saving treatments for patients. The Budget also reimagines healthcare as a powerful engine of employment, with a strong emphasis on building a future-ready workforce across allied health, geriatric and specialised care. Investments in structured skilling, alongside the creation of a large-scale caregiver ecosystem and AI-enabled training pathways, will not only support an ageing population but also generate sustainable healthcare jobs over the long term. Together with the push for medical hubs, medical value tourism along side mental and digital health, these measures position India as a globally trusted and resilient healthcare destination.
Anindith Reddy, MD & Co-Founder, Wadi Surgicals Pvt Ltd (Enliva)
The ₹2,000 crore top-up to the Self-Reliant India Fund in Union Budget 2026 is a timely step for manufacturing MSMEs built under the Atmanirbhar Bharat mission, including Enliva. Access to growth capital has been a key constraint, and this measure directly addresses that gap while reinforcing the focus on self-reliant, scalable enterprises.
Vishal Bali, Executive Chairman, Asia healthcare Holdings
Budget 2026 was expected to bring multiple reforms for the growth of the healthcare sector including a major push to medical technology manufacturing in India. The total allocation for the healthcare sector has moved marginally from Rs 99,858 cr in 2025 to Rs 1,04,599 cr in 2026 which effectively means that public healthcare spending in the country as percentage of GDP remains much lower than the rest of the world. However, the Rs 10.000 cr allocation to make India as a global biopharma manufacturing hub over 5 yrs is an excellent push on the pharmaceutical side. The strategic impetus to create 5 regional medical tourism hubs which strengthens India’s position as a global healthcare provider is a good idea along with strengthening the regional Ayush Ecosystem of the country. The reduction in import duty on cancer drugs given the rise of Oncology patients in the country is also a good move. Overall, the allocation for healthcare sector still does not mark an exponential inflection point given the demand supply gap for healthcare in the country, and the constantly increasing import bills of medical technology given the depreciation of the rupee in recent times.
Sudhakar Kancharla, Founder, Mr. Yoda
I see Budget 2026 as an important step in India’s shift from sick-care to predictive healthcare. With initiatives like the 1,000 clinical trial sites and the ₹10,000-crore Biopharma SHAKTI mission, the government is strengthening the data and research backbone needed to move Indian health-tech from broad wellness claims to evidence-based outcomes.
The parallel focus on emerging technologies, AI and the creation of one lakh allied health professionals is certainly a masterstroke, as it ensures digital intelligence is always backed by human expertise.
Nitin Jain, Founder and Managing Director, Iberia Pharmaceuticals
The Union Budget’s announcement of the ₹10,000 crore Biopharma Shakti initiative, along with investments in new and upgraded NIPERs, a nationwide clinical trial network, and the strengthening of regulatory institutions such as the CDSCO, is a strong and forward-looking step for India’s pharmaceutical ecosystem. These measures will significantly improve the industry’s ability to innovate, scale high-value biologics and biosimilars, and align more closely with global drug development and manufacturing standards. The emphasis on priority disease areas such as diabetes, combined with a clearly defined five-year horizon, provides long-term direction while strengthening India’s standing as a credible global destination for clinical research. By prioritising research infrastructure, regulatory capacity and domestic manufacturing, the government has laid the foundation for an innovation-led growth model that will enhance industry competitiveness and reinforce India’s position as a trusted global biopharma manufacturing and research hub, while addressing the growing burden of non-communicable diseases.
