Union Budget 2026-27: Detailed Study Notes

1. Key Budget Statistics (Exam Oriented Data)

• Total Expenditure: ₹53.47 lakh crore
• Total Receipts (other than borrowings): ₹36.51 lakh crore
• Fiscal Deficit Target (2026-27): 4.3% of GDP
• Fiscal Deficit (Revised Estimate 2025-26): 4.4% of GDP
• Nominal GDP Growth Estimate: 10%
• Capital Expenditure (Capex) Target: ₹12.2 lakh crore (Increased by approx. 11%)
• Revenue Deficit Target: 1.5% of GDP

2. Budget Theme and Vision

• Core Vision: The budget focuses on three ‘Kartavyas’ (duties):
  1. Accelerate and sustain economic growth.
  2. Fulfil aspirations and build capacity.
  3. Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas.
• Key Focus Areas: Yuva Shakti (Youth Power), Agriculture, MSMEs, Employment, Green Energy, and Digital Public Infrastructure.

3. Ministry-Wise Allocations (Top Allocations)

• Ministry of Defence: ₹7.85 lakh crore
  • Revenue Expenditure: ₹5.54 lakh crore
  • Capital Outlay (Modernisation): ₹2.31 lakh crore
• Ministry of Rural Development:
  • Allocated over ₹1.51 lakh crore for the new ‘Viksit Bharat Gram’ scheme (combined centre + state share).
  • MGNREGA: ₹95,692 crore (highest ever central allocation).
• Ministry of Agriculture: ₹1.32 lakh crore
  • Fertiliser Subsidy: ₹1.71 lakh crore.
  • Agricultural Research (ICAR): ₹9,967 crore.
• Ministry of Home Affairs: ₹2.55 lakh crore
  • Includes ₹2.28 lakh crore revenue expenditure for CAPFs and internal security.
• Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs: ₹85,522 crore
  • PM SVANidhi: ₹900 crore (57% hike).

4. Major Schemes and Fund Allocations

• PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (Free Food Grain): ₹2.27 lakh crore (Highest allocated scheme).
• Jal Jeevan Mission: ₹67,600 crore (Mission extended until 2028).
• PM Kisan Samman Nidhi: ₹63,500 crore.
• Biopharma Shakti: ₹10,000 crore (New scheme for biopharma manufacturing).
• SME Growth Fund: ₹10,000 crore (To create ‘Champion MSMEs’).
• City Economic Regions: ₹5,000 crore allocated per region for development in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities.
• Ayushman Bharat: ₹9,500 crore.
• Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS): ₹20,000 crore outlay over 5 years.

5. Infrastructure and Development Initiatives

• High-Speed Rail: 7 new high-speed rail corridors announced to connect major cities.
• National Waterways: 20 new national waterways to be operationalised in the next 5 years.
• Industrial Clusters: Scheme to revive 200 legacy industrial clusters.
• AVGC Labs: Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, and Comics labs to be set up in 15,000 schools and 500 colleges.
• Digital Libraries: National Digital Library for children and adolescents to be expanded.

6. Taxation and Financial Reforms

• Income Tax Slabs: No changes to existing tax slabs in the new or old regime.
• New Tax Law: Introduction of the ‘Income Tax Act, 2025’ effective from April 1, 2026.
  • Objective: To replace the Income Tax Act, 1961, simplifying rules and reducing litigation.
• Securities Transaction Tax (STT):
  • STT on Futures raised from 0.02% to 0.05%.
  • STT on Options raised from 0.1% to 0.15%.
• Customs Duty: Rationalised for components in nuclear energy, lithium-ion batteries, and critical minerals.

7. Important One-Liners

• Reform Express: The term used to describe the fast-tracked economic reforms including GST simplification and labour codes.
• Corporate Mitras: A new cadre of professionals to be developed by ICAI/ICSI for Tier-2 and Tier-3 towns.
• Bharat-VISTAAR: A new multilingual AI tool proposed to integrate AgriStack and ICAR data.
• Medical Value Tourism Hubs: 5 new hubs proposed to boost medical tourism.
• STEM Hostels: New hostels for girls pursuing STEM education to be set up in every district.

What Got Cheaper? (Price Decrease)

The government reduced Basic Customs Duty (BCD) to promote domestic manufacturing, reduce medical costs, and support exports.

• Medicines & Healthcare:
  • Cancer Drugs: Full customs duty exemption on 17 specific cancer medicines.
  • Rare Diseases: Customs duty waived on drugs and food for 7 rare diseases.
  • Medical Equipment: Reduction in duties on specific medical components to boost domestic availability.
• Electronics & Appliances:
  • Microwave Ovens: Parts used in manufacturing microwave ovens (like magnetrons) are now duty-free.
  • Mobile Phones & TVs: Reductions in duties on specific parts (under Semiconductor Mission 2.0) to lower production costs.
  • Solar Panels: Duty removed on Sodium Antimonate, a key raw material for solar glass.
• Lifestyle & Personal Imports:
  • Personal Imports: Customs duty on goods imported for personal use (via baggage/courier) reduced from 20% to 10%.
  • Overseas Tour Packages: Tax Collected at Source (TCS) on foreign tour packages reduced to 2% (previously varied between 5% and 20%).
  • Sports Equipment: Duties cut on equipment to support the new 'Khelo India Mission'.
• Industrial & Export Inputs:
  • Leather & Footwear: Duty-free import allowed for inputs used in manufacturing leather goods and shoe uppers (to boost exports).
  • Marine Sector: Duty reduced on shrimp feed to support seafood exports.
  • EV Batteries: Extended duty exemption on machinery used to make Lithium-ion battery cells.

What Got Costlier? (Price Increase)

Prices increased due to hikes in "Sin Tax," protectionist tariffs, or financial transaction levies.

• Sin Goods (Health & Environment):
  • Cigarettes & Tobacco: National Calamity Contingent Duty (NCCD) hiked from 25% to 60% on chewing tobacco, gutkha, and cigarettes.
  • Alcohol: Tax Collected at Source (TCS) on the sale of alcoholic liquor increased to 2% (from 1%).
• Financial Transactions (Stock Market):
  • Futures Trading: Securities Transaction Tax (STT) increased from 0.02% to 0.05%.
  • Options Trading: STT increased from 0.1% to 0.15%.
• Imported Goods (To discourage imports):
  • Umbrellas: Duty on low-cost imported umbrellas raised (Minimum duty of ₹60 per piece or 20%, whichever is higher).
  • Coffee Machines: Exemptions withdrawn on imported coffee roasting, brewing, and vending machines.
  • ATM Machines: Basic Customs Duty raised on imported ATM and cash dispensing machines.
  • Chemicals: Duty on Potassium Hydroxide increased to 7.5%.
• Miscellaneous:
  • Imported Zoo Animals: Customs duty increased on imported birds and zoo animals.
  • Commercial LPG: (Note: Prices for 19-kg commercial cylinders were hiked by ₹49 effective Feb 1, 2026, coincident with the budget).

Other Important Facts

1. Important Targets & Deadlines

• Fiscal Deficit Glide Path: The target is to reduce the Fiscal Deficit to below 4.0% by 2027-28.
• Lakhpati Didi Scheme: The target for creating 'Lakhpati Didis' (women earning ₹1 lakh/year) has been enhanced from 3 crore to 5 crore.
• Viksit Bharat Goal: Reiteration of the goal to make India a 'Developed Nation' by 2047.
• Net Zero Emission: Target remains set for 2070.
• Skill India Digital: Target to skill 1 crore youth in new-age technologies (AI, Robotics, IoT) over the next 3 years.

2. Railways (Special Focus for SSC)

• Capital Outlay: A record capital outlay of ₹2.65 lakh crore for Railways.
• Economic Corridors: Implementation of 3 major economic railway corridor programmes:
  1. Energy, Mineral, and Cement Corridor.
  2. Port Connectivity Corridor.
  3. High Traffic Density Corridor.
• Vande Metro: Announcement of 50 new 'Vande Metro' trains for short-distance inter-city travel (100–250 km).
• Rail Bhogs: Conversion of 40,000 normal rail bogies to 'Vande Bharat' standards for safety and comfort.

3. Agriculture & Allied Sectors (Annadata)

• Nano DAP: Expansion of the use of Nano DAP fertilizer to all agro-climatic zones.
• Atmanirbhar Oil Seeds Abhiyan: Strategy formulated to achieve self-reliance in oilseeds like Mustard, Groundnut, Sesame, Soybean, and Sunflower.
• Blue Economy 2.0: Launch of a scheme for restoration and adaptation measures for coastal aquaculture and mariculture.
• Dairy Farmers: A comprehensive programme to control Foot and Mouth Disease under the National Livestock Mission.

4. Finance & Economy Trivia

• Disinvestment Target: The government has set a modest disinvestment target of ₹40,000 crore for FY 2026-27.
• GIFT City (IFSC): Tax exemptions for funds relocating to IFSC GIFT City have been extended until March 31, 2027.
• Interest-Free Loan to States: The scheme for 'Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment' (50-year interest-free loan) is continued with an allocation of ₹1.3 lakh crore.
• FDI Inflow: Mentioned that FDI inflow during 2014-2026 is twice that of the 2005-2014 period.

5. Women & Social Justice (Nari Shakti)

• Mudrayojana: The limit for Mudra Loans under the 'Tarun' category has been increased from ₹10 lakh to ₹20 lakh for entrepreneurs who have successfully repaid previous loans.
• Cervical Cancer: The government will encourage vaccination for girls in the age group of 9 to 14 years to prevent cervical cancer.
• Maternal Child Health: All maternal and child healthcare schemes will be brought under one comprehensive programme (Saksham Anganwadi & Poshan 2.0).

6. Science, Tech & Innovation

• Deep Tech Mission: A new policy for Deep Tech technologies for defence purposes aimed at 'Atmanirbharata'.
• Anusandhan Corpus: A corpus of ₹1 lakh crore established to provide long-term interest-free loans to encourage the private sector to scale up research and innovation.

7. Budget History & Static GK (Contextual)

• Paperless Budget: This is the 6th consecutive paperless budget (First was in 2021-22).
• Budget App: All documents are available on the 'Union Budget Mobile App'.
• Interim vs Full: Clarification that since 2026 is not an election year, this is a Full Budget (unlike the Interim Budget of 2024).

8. Acronyms to Remember

• G.Y.A.N: The four castes the PM focuses on – Garib (Poor), Yuva (Youth), Annadata (Farmer), Nari (Women).
• G.D.P: Redefined in the speech as Governance, Development, and Performance.