Anurag Mehrotra, Managing Director, JSW MG Motor India-
"From Budget 2026, we anticipate enablers for continued investment in infrastructure, as the logistic industry continues to contribute significantly to the GDP. On the electric mobility front, we expect the government to further strengthen consumer-led incentives and schemes to accelerate EV adoption. Rationalization of duties on EV components would be a welcome move, along with greater support for localization of EV manufacturing. While the charging network has expanded, there is still considerable progress to be made, and we would greatly appreciate strong fiscal support for the expansion of charging infrastructure."
Union Budget 2026 Expectation Quote by Mr Sunil Nair, CEO, Ramky Infrastructure Ltd.
India's infrastructure journey has gained remarkable momentum, and what's commendable is the government's steadfast commitment demonstrated in the Union Budget 2025-26. Key initiatives included a massive ₹11.21 lakh crore capex allocation, fueling projects like the ₹1 trillion Urban Challenge Fund for cities as growth hubs and water sanitation, alongside the second Asset Monetisation Plan targeting ₹10 trillion for new builds. Outcomes have been tangible: accelerated progress on Bharatmala highways, 1,000+ railway station modernisations, and metro expansions, reducing logistics costs and boosting urban connectivity—evident in our own ₹215 crore sewage contracts in Hyderabad.
For Budget 2026, the sector anticipates sustained capex at ₹12-13 lakh crore with sharper focus on water infrastructure, including viability gap funding for PPPs in 7,000 MLD sewage treatment under Namami Gange and circular reuse mandates across urban areas. Enhanced support for HAM models in industrial parks, green bonds for STPs, and digital twins for O&M will accelerate nationwide execution. These steps will drive resilient growth, aligning with Viksit Bharat@2047 through sustainable urban transformation." – Sunil S. Nair, CEO, Ramky Infrastructure Ltd
Speaking on the expectations from the upcoming Union Budget 2026, CA Shreya Jaiswal, Finance Content Creator and Founder of Fawkes Solutions says:
Budget 2026 comes at a time of structural pressure, not a cyclical slowdown. A strong dollar and volatile global capital flows are keeping the rupee under stress, raising the cost of critical imports and adding to inflation and the current account gap. The challenge before the Budget is growth without increasing external vulnerability. Currency stability cannot come from intervention alone. India needs to grow exports faster than imports, which makes the India, EU free trade agreement economically significant. But trade deals create opportunity only if budgets create capacity. Tax incentives, PLI support and logistics investment must be aligned to sectors that can actually leverage EU demand, or the gains will remain theoretical. On the fiscal side, high global yields leave little room for indiscipline. I expect the government to stay on its consolidation path, prioritising capital expenditure over subsidies, as infrastructure-led growth improves productivity without permanently straining finances. Overall, this needs to be a structural, not populist, Budget; one that addresses income stress, export competitiveness, GST friction and currency risk to improve the quality of growth, not just the GDP headline.
“As India looks to become a $7-trillion economy in the next decade, education must be treated as national capability-building, not just social spending. With over 250 million students in the system, the real challenge is not enrolments, but outcomes, what children are actually learning, how well they can apply concepts, and how prepared they are for a rapidly changing world. The shift now needs to be from inputs to learning impact is critical to building productive human capital. Budget priorities that reward innovation, teacher enablement and measurable learning outcomes will directly shape India’s workforce quality, productivity and global competitiveness in the years ahead.” — Atul Temurnikar, Chairman and Co-founder, Global Schools Group
" The 2026-27 Union Budget is a critical opportunity to align India’s higher technical education with its ambitions as a global tech leader. Expectations focus on moving beyond basic funding to strategic investment that bridges the gap between academia and industry.
The budget should promote research in emerging fields like AI and semiconductors, while expanding digital learning access to tier-2 and tier-3 cities. However, challenges such as outdated infrastructure, curriculum gaps, and weak industry-academia collaboration persist.
To succeed, funding must cultivate not just technical skills, but future-ready competencies like critical thinking and innovation. This requires incentivizing curriculum updates, fostering research partnerships, and attracting top faculty, ensuring India’s education system drives rather than follows global trends" ----- Dr. Deepak K. Sinha, Dy. Director, JAIN University - Faculty of Engineering and Technology
Pradeep Chauhan, Founder, Finfinity:
"As we approach Budget 2026–27, we hope to see stronger policy support for digital lending and alternative credit platforms that are expanding formal credit access across India. Measures that incentivise data-led underwriting, strengthen co-lending frameworks, and provide clarity on regulatory compliance will be critical in enabling fintechs to responsibly serve underserved consumers and MSMEs. A forward-looking budget can accelerate financial inclusion while ensuring sustainable growth for the fintech ecosystem."
Budget Expectation Quote by: Prof. M. A. Venkataramanan, Pro-Vice Chancellor, FLAME University:
"Ahead of the Union Budget 2026, the education sector expects support for building future-ready universities. We need to invest more in India-centric research and development, interdisciplinary learning, and integration of AI in everyday teaching to enhance critical thinking, deeper inquiry, and real-world problem-solving. The Budget must also strengthen pedagogical innovations and experiential learning helping students to apply knowledge in industry, policy, and society. Greater industry–academia collaborations, through structured career pathways, will be key to improving job-readiness of our students. At a time when several Indian students are reconsidering overseas education, we must use this opportunity to build globally benchmarked institutions at home: ones that nurture ethical, adaptable, and global leaders of tomorrow."
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Budget Expectation Quote by Jeel Gandhi, CEO, Under25:
"With over 65% of India's population under 35, the upcoming Union Budget is a pivotal moment for the country's youth. It presents a critical opportunity to allocate dedicated funds and provide incentives that support early-stage funding, seed capital access, and enable start-ups for young entrepreneurs. We expect a long-term vision of positioning India as a global hub for young talent, where these dedicated allocations will help reduce entry barriers and give a boost to youth-led innovation.
Being one of the youngest nations in the world, there is immense potential. But this potential needs preparation. Most fresh graduates in India face the same challenge – a degree in hand but limited skills in the real world. Supporting structured, paid internships and industry-academia collaboration can significantly ease young Indian's transition from education to employment. This is essential to leverage India's demographic dividend for economic growth.
Another area that needs consideration is affordable internet and digital infrastructure, particularly in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. This will ensure equal access to opportunities, especially in the creator economy. Lastly, we also expect a stronger focus on Gen-Z-ready skills across digital, creative, communication, AI, and other new-age tech to build employability that sustains in the long run."
Here is the Budget Expectation Quote By Niyati Handa, Co-founders & Director of Eklavya School:
"Looking ahead at Budget 2026, there is a bigger expectation that India's education agenda will be recalibrated. The focus should move beyond enrollment numbers to learning outcomes, strengthening critical thinking, conceptual understanding, and teaching excellence that shape young minds.
A substantive increase in the budget for school education is essential, especially at the foundational level. Investments to upgrade teacher training, curriculum modernisation, and age-appropriate learning frameworks have to take place holistically to develop solid academic and cognitive roots for future-ready learners. Likewise, I believe that bridging the urban–rural education gap should remain one of the top priorities. When monetary assistance is enabled in scaling digital and hybrid learning models, it can significantly expand access to quality education in Tier 2, Tier 3, and rural regions, ensuring that geography does not limit potential.
Teacher capacity building also deserves sharper focus. Continuous upskilling of educators with evolving student requirements, new pedagogies, and even interdisciplinary approaches will be key to sustaining educational reform. Additionally, certain policies can also be employed that reinforce merit-based pathways for students through scholarships and need-based financial support. This, in turn, will ensure that deserving students are empowered to pursue their aspirations without financial constraints.
A strong case also exists for closely aligning education with career outcomes, emerging professions and real-world problem-solving. We expect budgetary support for learning to become more relevant and make a difference.
Ultimately, Budget 2026 must envision education as a long-term strategic investment: one that powers India's knowledge economy, drives innovation, advances the research ecosystem, and solidifies the nation's global competitiveness over the years to come."
Mr Vijai Subrmaniam, Chairman & Co-Founder, Royaloak Furniture
"The upcoming Union Budget comes at a time when the Indian furniture industry is entering a decisive quality reset with the enforcement of BIS norms (Bureau of Indian Standards). For organised players who have invested in structured sourcing, compliance, and long-term brand trust, this shift is both necessary and overdue.
BIS certification will help create a level playing field by ensuring that only products meeting defined quality and safety standards are allowed to enter the Indian market, whether manufactured locally or imported. However, what we as the industry will closely watch for in the Budget is how policy and duty structures align with this objective, particularly in discouraging low-quality imports that bypass standards while supporting serious players committed to compliance.
If implemented consistently, the BIS framework can strengthen consumer confidence, formalise the sector, and push India's furniture industry closer to global benchmarks. The Budget has an opportunity to reinforce this transition by aligning trade and tax policy with the government's broader focus on quality-led growth and responsible imports."
"While the Budget provides a welcome boost to consumer spending power, the responsibility now lies with brands to convert this from transactional growth to genuine long-term loyalty. Higher disposable income will drive more swipes and store visits but banks and retailers can anchor that behavior through habit-forming, relevant rewards on everyday spends like groceries and utilities rather than one-time cashbacks. The path forward requires a structural shift where retailers and banks stop working in silos and start sharing the cost of rewards. By designing loyalty programs as interconnected ecosystems rather than isolated cost centers, the industry can ensure that the advantage of increased spending capacity is mutually realized and sustained."
Amresh Acharya, CEO - Loylty Rewardz
Vijender Yadav, CEO & Co-founder, Accops expresses:
"As India accelerates toward a $7 trillion economy, the convergence of digital and physical infrastructures has made cybersecurity a cornerstone of national economic continuity. In FY26-27, we must acknowledge that a single systemic breach within our digital corridors could trigger cascading failures across banking, power, healthcare and other critical sectors, potentially paralysing financial settlements, compromising grid stability, and disrupting life-critical services. To safeguard this momentum, Budget 2026-27 should formally classify cybersecurity as Core Digital Infrastructure, ensuring it receives the same sovereign protection and long-term capital support as other vital national assets. We urge the government to incentivise the adoption of indigenous, high-assurance security stacks through weighted tax deductions. By prioritising fiscal support for the transition toward contextual access controls, adaptive risk-based verification and air-gapped architectures, the government can effectively de-risk our national assets, ensuring that security is an inherent, real-time characteristic of our 'Viksit' digital nation."
Anand Mahurkar, CEO, Findability Sciences says :
"The most effective thing the Budget can do is make compute and high-quality datasets easily accessible. Talent already exists. Innovation already exists. What slows teams down is access to affordable, reliable compute and usable data. The Budget should also incentivize applied AI. AI that actually improves productivity, reduces cost, or improves public services rather than focusing only on research or demos. And finally, faster and more predictable approvals for data centers and AI infrastructure would unlock a lot of private investment very quickly."
Amit Relan, CEO and Co-founder mFilterIt quotes :
"As we look towards Budget 2026, the focus must shift from viewing technology and AI as innovation enablers to treating them as national infrastructure. India has made strong progress in digital adoption, but the next phase demands deeper investment in AI-led security, data integrity, and responsible deployment frameworks.
With AI now influencing everything from advertising and commerce to finance and public discourse, the budget has an opportunity to strengthen guardrails—supporting advanced research, secure data ecosystems, and digital trust at scale. A forward-looking Budget 2026 should not only accelerate innovation, but ensure that growth is built on transparency, accountability, and long-term resilience."
Muneer Ahmad, Managing Director, ViewSonic India expresses :
As India accelerates its journey towards a technology-driven future, the upcoming budget is a key opportunity to strengthen digital learning and embrace emerging technologies. Digital education has become central to modern learning, enabling students and educators to access interactive, immersive, and personalized experiences. Policies that support affordable devices, high-speed connectivity, and smart classroom solutions will be vital to bridging the urban-rural learning divide. Investing in technologies such as AI and cloud-based platforms can enhance educational quality while preparing students with the skills needed for the global knowledge economy. Incentives for technology adoption in schools and skill development centres can accelerate this transformation, creating a digitally empowered workforce. At ViewSonic, we are committed to enabling seamless digital learning experiences and supporting India's vision of a tech-enabled educational ecosystem, ensuring the next generation is equipped to thrive in the digital age
"As we look ahead to the 2026 Union Budget, the textile and apparel industry is hopeful that the government will consider measures that strengthen sectoral resilience and global competitiveness. Recent international trade turbulence including elevated US tariffs and ongoing global supply chain disruptions has placed significant pressure on key textile and apparel export hubs. Tariff shocks of up to 50% have severely impacted order continuity for MSME manufacturers operating on already thin margins. Targeted fiscal support for such clusters will be critical to safeguarding jobs, sustaining exports, and preserving India's manufacturing base.
At the same time, the Budget must help textile and apparel exporters fully leverage upcoming trade agreements, particularly the UK-India and EU-India FTAs. With the UK-India agreement alone expected to add over £25 billion in annual bilateral trade over time, and the EU already accounting for goods trade worth around €120 billion with India, timely policy alignment can enable Indian textile suppliers to scale faster, improve market access, and strengthen India's position as a reliable global sourcing hub.
In parallel, accelerating on-ground execution of PM MITRA parks should be a key priority, as they are central to building a globally competitive, integrated textile manufacturing ecosystem. With an outlay of ₹4,445 crore through 2027–28 and investment commitments exceeding ₹42,000 crore, faster infrastructure development will directly enhance manufacturing scale, efficiency, and India's standing within international supply chains.
Finally, the Budget must place stronger emphasis on productivity-linked skilling in the textile and apparel sector. While the Samarth scheme has been extended till March 2026, greater focus on productivity-led upskilling and supervisor-level capabilities will be critical to sustaining global competitiveness. " Mr. Sanjay Jain, Group CEO, PDS Limited.
