We wanted to share post budget perspectives from industry experts
Mr. Masood Mallick, Chairman, CII National Committee on Waste to Worth Technologies and Managing Director & Group CEO, Re Sustainability Limited– The Union Budget 2026–27 marks a decisive shift in how India approaches resource security and decarbonisation—treating them as strategic economic priorities rather than regulatory afterthoughts. The INR 20,000 crore commitment to Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) over five years is a particularly important signal. It directly addresses the competitiveness challenge Indian industry faces under mechanisms such as the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism and provides a credible pathway for hard-to-abate sectors like steel and cement to remain globally competitive while decarbonising. Equally significant is the focus on building domestic capability across the critical minerals value chain—from exploration to processing. Duty exemptions on capital goods for critical mineral processing, along with support for rare-earth corridors in mineral-rich states, will strengthen urban mining and large-scale resource recovery. For industries engaged in recovering value from end-of-life materials, this recognition of secondary resources as strategic assets is both timely and overdue. The extension of duty exemptions for lithium-ion cell manufacturing in battery energy storage systems, and the rationalisation of excise duty on biogas-blended CNG, reflect a sophisticated understanding of how clean energy transition and circularity reinforce each other. These measures will unlock investment in recovery infrastructure and accelerate the shift from linear to circular industrial models. By placing execution, scale, and infrastructure at the centre of its approach, this Budget positions circularity as foundational to India’s manufacturing resilience and its Viksit Bharat ambitions—giving industry the confidence to invest boldly in sustainable technologies.
Kosturi Ghosh, Partner- Corporate Practice, Trilegal-The Economic Survey of India underscores the need for the pharmaceutical sector to move beyond a volume-led generics model and advance up the value chain, particularly through complex products that can sustain growth in regulated markets. Against this backdrop, the ₹1,000 crore outlay in Budget 2026 is a positive step towards strengthening India’s ambition to emerge as a global pharmaceutical manufacturing hub. Beyond generics, the emphasis on biologics is especially significant, both for building domestic capabilities and reducing reliance on high-cost imports. The focus on accredited clinical trial sites, biologics and regulatory capacity addresses a core constraint in this transition: predictability and consistency in approvals for higher-risk therapies. For biologics in particular, robust trial conduct, data integrity and quality systems are essential, and investment in compliant clinical infrastructure enhances confidence in Indian-generated data while reducing approval friction in regulated markets. The proposed expansion of medical education and specialised health institutions, including mental health and veterinary care, further supports regulatory execution by strengthening the talent pool across compliance, quality and pharmacovigilance functions. Ultimately, the value of these measures will lie in their implementation. The opportunity is to build the capacity to meet global standards rather than dilute them, thereby creating a more reliable environment for long-term growth in complex medicines.
Abhishek Jain, Fellow and Director- Green Economy and Impact Innovations-“The Budget’s emphasis on adding 20,000 veterinary professionals and scaling breeding facilities is a welcome focus on animal health and enhancing the genetic profile of the country’s livestock. However, a critical element of animal health is animal nutrition — feed and fodder. CEEW’s recent national survey highlights that 3 out of 4 cattle rearers in India face feed and fodder shortages. Yet, awareness and adoption of nutrition interventions like silage-making and ration balancing remains as low as 20% and 5% respectively. The Economic Survey also admits that livestock growth has outpaced fodder expansion—leaving a 11–32% gap in green fodder. Without solving the foundational animal nutrition gaps, health and breeding interventions will fall short in achieving the intended outcomes. We need a dedicated focus to bridge the animal nutrition deficit.”
Ms. Shaifalika Panda, Founder & CEO, Bansidhar & Ila Panda Foundation (BIPF)-Women’s entrepreneurship is no longer about participation alone; it is about ownership, scale, and leadership. The Union Budget 2026–27 takes a decisive step in this direction by explicitly enabling women to move from credit-linked livelihoods to becoming owners of enterprises. The proposal to establish Self-Help Entrepreneur (SHE) Marts as community-owned retail platforms marks a structural shift in how women-led businesses are integrated into markets, value chains and formal retail ecosystems. By combining innovative financing, collective ownership models and cluster-level aggregation, the Budget recognises that sustainable women entrepreneurship requires more than access to loans—it requires access to markets, branding and institutional support. This approach builds on the success of grassroots programmes while creating pathways for women entrepreneurs to scale, formalise and compete. For States like Odisha, where women play a pivotal role in self-help groups, micro-enterprises, agro-processing and handicrafts, such interventions can unlock significant economic and social dividends. As India advances towards Viksit Bharat, empowering women as entrepreneurs and business owners is not just a social imperative; it is an economic necessity. The Budget’s emphasis on women-led enterprises reinforces the idea that inclusive growth is most powerful when women are positioned at the centre of India’s economic transformation.
Murty LVLN, CEO, Dvara KGFS –The 2026–27 Budget underscores the importance of strengthening grassroots incomes as a foundation for India’s growth. Continued focus on farmers, weavers and small enterprises reflects recognition that stable household incomes and access to formal finance are essential for sustaining rural demand. Initiatives such as the Bharat Vistaar AI platform and the rollout of AgriStack can improve productivity, reduce information gaps and enable more data-backed lending. Investments in rural infrastructure, agriculture-linked value chains, and targeted support for high-value crops, livestock and natural farming further expand livelihood opportunities. From a financial sector perspective, the Budget signals intent rather than immediate relief. Measures such as the ₹10,000 crore SME Growth Fund, expanded use of TReDS, higher RIDF allocations and the proposed Banking for Viksit Bharat committee indicate a willingness to strengthen rural credit delivery. Sustained and well-calibrated policy support will be critical for institutions like Dvara KGFS to continue providing responsible, last-mile financial solutions.
