The support from the government for emerging technologies through initiatives like the AI mission, National Quantum Mission, Anusandhan National Research Fund, and Research and Innovation Fund is expected to significantly benefit Indian higher education institutions that are shaping the country’s future entrepreneurs, industry leaders stated on Monday.

The Union Budget 2026 indicates a clear transition in India’s approach to technology, moving from simple adoption to the development of strategic capabilities.

“The focus on AI, semiconductors, cloud computing, and data infrastructure shows a solid recognition that excelling in the digital economy begins with having strong foundational elements. Enhancing the India AI Mission offers a unified framework to speed up AI research, implementation, and the ethical management of AI across various sectors,” remarked CP Gurnani, Co-Founder and Vice Chairman of AIONOS.

Crucially, this agenda goes beyond a limited technological focus. By integrating AI funding with skill development, workforce preparedness, and empowerment of MSMEs, the Budget acknowledges that growth, inclusivity, and competitiveness must advance in tandem, he stated.

The emphasis on incorporating technology across various sectors aims to support farmers directly, increase female participation in STEM fields, and provide youth with the skills needed to seize emerging opportunities, noted Chocko Valliappa, Vice Chairman of Sona College of Technology.

“The budget allocation of Rs 139,289 crore for the education sector is an increase of 14.2 percent compared to the revised estimate of Rs 121,949 crore for 2025-26. According to the revised estimate, the actual expenditure on education fell short by 5 percent relative to the budgeted figure,” he mentioned.

The budget proposal to establish five university townships near key industrial and logistics corridors, featuring a variety of universities, colleges, research institutions, and skill centers, is a positive initiative.

“States such as Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Maharashtra, which have a robust manufacturing sector and numerous higher education institutions, could easily host one of these university townships,” Valliappa commented.

As per industry experts, the Union Budget conveys a strong message that India’s upcoming growth phase will be driven by AI-focused digital capabilities, extensive skill development, and competitive technology services on a global scale.

“The suggested Education to Employment and Enterprise framework is a timely initiative aimed at closing the gap between curriculum and industry, especially in emerging fields like AI, data engineering, and digital platforms, where the demand for skilled professionals is exceeding the availability of prepared talent,” stated Sachin Alug, CEO of NLB Services.

The emphasis on tier 2 and tier 3 areas as Digital Economy Zones enhances India’s Global Capability Center ecosystem by tapping into new talent sources and fostering distributed, resilient operating models outside of metropolitan areas, Alug highlighted.

The creation of a unified IT Services framework with more defined tax regulations and safe harbour guidelines is also crucial, as it offers businesses long-term certainty, experts expressed.

Challa Sreenivasulu Setty stated that, Chairman of the State Bank of India, the Budget for 2026–2027 is a major step toward turning India into a global center for innovation and sophisticated manufacturing with global competitiveness as the cornerstone.

The budget attempts to strike a delicate balance between the rural and urban, legacy and sunrise industries while maintaining policy continuity and tax predictability.The budget for this year includes both futuristic and predictable components.

The predictable portion is the basic framework which remains focused on emerging and employment creating sectors.

“With an increase in proposed investments, the infrastructure sector continues to be an anchor,” he stated in the “Union Budget 2026-27 Analysis Report” published by State Bank of India.

The banking industry has a lot of advantages and prospects. Reinventing banking in quickly changing context and maintaining financial markets orderly and stable, thereby aligning with India’s next phase of growth continues to be crucial for the sector, Setty added.

Announcements on semiconductors, data centers, carbon capture utilization and storage, critical minerals, and other areas are part of the futurist push on sunrise industries.

“Starting with basic fiscal math, the budgetary allocations are based on the assumption of nominal GDP growth of 10 per cent which appears prudent given the way inflation is panning out.

According to him, this results in a budget imbalance of 4.3 percent of GDP.

The Budget has made some significant changes in the areas of agriculture and rural areas.

“The focus will now be on high value products such as sandalwood, cashews, fisheries though Integrated development of 500 reservoirs, coconut promotion scheme to increase production, rejuvenating old, low-yielding orchards and expand high-density cultivation of walnuts, almonds and pine nuts,” said the SBI Chairman.

There is additional attention on growing the use of AI in agriculture by integrating Agri Stack portals.

A focus on services, especially tourism, the orange economy, and education, is appropriate and complementary to the planned infrastructure expansion, connectivity, and future growth driven by digital capital expenditures.

As a key component of Viksit Bharat, the services sector will be the focus of the High-Powered “Education to Employment and Enterprise” Standing Committee.

The enormous scope of specialized building necessitates a local infrastructure equipment supply chain. In light of this, the budget suggests producing high-value, cutting-edge infrastructure and construction equipment domestically.

Setty stated, “On the financing side, an Infrastructure Risk Guarantee Fund will be established to provide prudently calibrated partial credit guarantees to lenders in order to further strengthen the confidence of private developers.”

The Budget has attempted to leverage the potential of urban agglomerations in recognition of India’s fast urbanization. In order to do this, city economic regions (CER) would be mapped according to their unique growth drivers, and each CER will get a five-year allocation of Rs 5,000 crore for the implementation of development plans.

According to Setty, the Budget has suggested expanding the present Indian Semiconductor Mission (ISM) in the sunrise industries by proposing India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) 2.0 to manufacture materials and equipment, create full-stack Indian intellectual property, and strengthen supply chains.

Keeping in mind the disruption in vital minerals, the existing National vital Mineral Mission will be complimented by a dedicated Rare Earth Corridors to be constructed and exemption from BCD for capital goods import.

The people oriented efforts, ease of doing business and living metrics which create the softer side of the tough decisions highlights the challenges that country faces, he observed.

The Union Budget 2026–27 presents a robust and credible blueprint to strengthen India’s competitiveness through fiscal discipline, structural reforms and targeted measures aimed at increasing private investment, business groups said on Sunday.

CII Punjab Chairman Amin Jain said the Budget features numerous major initiatives for the textile sector.

“These include the redevelopment of heritage textile parks, integrated plans for labor-intensive textile segments, and the development of mega textile parks, which he said will provide a significant boost to the domestic textile industry,” Jain continued.

Noting that the majority of MSMEs in the nation are in the textile industry, he also applauded the creation of a Rs 10,000 crore MSME fund.

According to Jain, “the new fund is expected to benefit the entire sector.”

The Budget, according to Naresh Pachisia, President of the India Chambers of Commerce, is well-balanced and would help sustain economic growth at about 7%.

He noted that in order to ensure widespread development, the Finance Minister has established targeted plans across industries.

Pachisia said that in order to limit inflation, the government has upheld strict fiscal restraint.

According to Pachisia, “the fiscal deficit for the current financial year has been pegged at 4.4%, with a target of 4.3% for the next fiscal year, which provides greater resilience against global economic volatility.”

The Budget is a positive move, according to Mukul Bagla, Chairman of PHDCCI’s Direct Tax Committee.

He stated that the present fiscal deficit of 4.4% is intended to be gradually reduced to 4%.

Bagla went on to say that although the previous budget had a number of tax relief measures, the new budget places a greater emphasis on stability.

The government has proposed a number of customs reforms, which is encouraging, according to Ashok Batra, Chairman of PHDCCI’s Indirect Tax Committee.

However, he added that similar reforms were also expected in the GST framework.

The Union Budget 2026 was praised by industry association Nasscom on Sunday for emphasizing technology as a key component of equitable, sustainable growth.

In her ninth straight budget, FM Nirmala Sitharaman offered a consultative and forward-thinking plan that strengthens the relationship between the government and business.

“The Budget reflects a continued focus on ease of doing business and on strengthening India’s position as a global technology and services powerhouse under the Viksit Bharat vision, with technology positioned as a core driver of inclusive and sustainable growth,” Nasscom stated.

According to the industry association, the rationalization of the international taxes and transfer pricing framework, as well as the obvious application of tax policy as a competitive lever, are significant advantages for the technology sector.

Additionally, Nasscom applauded the Budget for being in line with long-standing industry priorities that have been continuously expressed through ongoing engagement and input.

“Access to certainty mechanisms for routine cross-border IT service models is materially expanded by the consolidation of software development services, IT-enabled services, KPO, and contract R&D related to software development into a single category of information technology services with a uniform safe harbour margin of 15.5% and the enhancement of the Safe Harbour eligibility threshold from Rs 300 crore to Rs 2,000 crore,” the report stated.

The enhancement of the Advance Pricing Agreement structure was also praised by Nasscom.Long-standing issues with timeliness and access to certainty are directly addressed by the Budget’s plan to expedite unilateral APAs for IT services, with an aim to conclude them within two years and a restricted extension window, it stated.

Additionally, the Budget strengthens India’s cloud and digital infrastructure ecosystem through a significant involvement.

The industry body stated, “The proposal for a tax holiday until 2047 for foreign companies offering cloud services to customers worldwide using data center services from India, with services to Indian customers routed through an Indian reseller entity, sends a clear signal to attract long-term global investment and support the expansion of India’s compute capacity.”

The introduction of the India Semiconductor Mission 2.0 and the increased investment of Rs 40,000 crore for the Electronics Components Manufacturing Scheme are two examples of the ongoing emphasis on developing domestic capability in strategic technologies that Nasscom applauded.

Nasscom stated that the “Union Budget 2026 sets a clear direction by aligning policy certainty with digital and manufacturing capability” and that these actions indicate a more developed policy approach that centers India’s long-term competitiveness around technology, digital infrastructure, and tax certainty.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman outlined three “Kartavyas” (duties) to empower the impoverished, disadvantaged, and underprivileged while also boosting the economy.

Since this is the first budget created at Kartavya Bhavan, Sitharaman stated that “we are inspired by three Kartavyas” in order to fulfill the government’s “sankalp” (resolve).The first Kartavya is to increase productivity, competitiveness, and resilience to unstable global conditions in order to accelerate and maintain economic growth.

While delivering the Union Budget 2026–2027, she stated, “Our second Kartavya is to fulfill the aspirations of our people and build their capacity, making them strong partners in India’s path to prosperity.”

“Our third Kartavya aligned with our vision of ‘Sabka Saath Sabka Vikaas‘ is to ensure that every family, community, region and sector has access to resources,” she stated.

“The ‘Reform Express’ is well on its way and will keep up its momentum to help us fulfill our duties,” she added.

Scaling up manufacturing in a number of strategic and frontier sectors, revitalizing legacy industrial sectors, establishing champion MSMEs, delivering a strong push for infrastructure, guaranteeing long-term security and stability, and developing city economic regions are the six areas in which the Finance Minister suggested interventions.

“As the need for water, energy, and essential minerals rises dramatically, new technologies are changing industrial methods. By striking a balance between ambition and inclusivity, India will keep moving confidently in the direction of Viksit Bharat,” she stated.

As the nation’s first female finance minister, Sitharaman has presented the budget to Parliament nine times in a row.

Due to current geopolitical pressures, the budget is likely to concentrate more on capital expenditures, particularly in industries considered strategically significant.

India can retain “J‑curve” advantages despite rupee weakness, if trade diversion becomes ingrained in durable supply chains and is supported by logistics efficiency, a research stated on Friday.

In order to maintain the J-curve gains, the Emkay Global Financial Services study also emphasized limited tariffs on capital goods and intermediaries as well as consistent long-term FDI, stressing that these elements will be significantly more important in the medium run than tariffs.

It predicted that the 10-year government bond yield would end FY26 and FY27 at roughly 6.50% and 6.25%, respectively, with a current account deficit of 1.3% of GDP for FY27 and USD/INR trading in an 87–95 range.

According to the business, the Union Budget for FY27 will follow the same course of “calibrated fiscal consolidation, with the government shifting its fiscal anchor to debt-to-GDP.”

It was anticipated that the “Budget 2026” will seek to maintain India’s medium-term economic stability while striking a careful balance between fiscal discipline, growth support, and reform continuity.

According to the research, the RBI will be the bond demand-supply balancing element for improved monetary transmission, particularly as FY27 is expected to witness a $15 billion balance of payments deficit for the third time in a row.

According to the research, open market operations are expected to be valued over Rs 5 trillion in FY27.

“While RBI’s sizable unsterilised FX intervention in recent months has drained liquidity, past build-up of a heavy net dollar short position” is dragging both on foreign‑exchange and fixed‑income markets, the paper added.

It expected additional primary liquidity injections of around Rs 1.5 trillion throughout the rest of FY26.

According to the research, the government is expected to aim for a gross fiscal deficit of 4.3% of GDP, capital spending of about 3% of GDP, and gross tax budgeted growth of 8.2%.

“Fiscal consolidation is anticipated to continue at a moderate pace, even though the economic environment is still difficult. The government’s intention to prioritize medium-term debt sustainability without sacrificing growth is shown by the change towards debt-to-GDP as the anchor, according to Madhavi Arora, Chief Economist at Emkay Global Financial Services.

A top US legislator has cautioned that rhetoric and policy uncertainty surrounding the H-1B visa program might harm India-US relations and undermine confidence among skilled workers and businesses at a delicate time in bilateral relationships.

Recent pronouncements aimed at the H-1B program have caused confusion and worry, especially among Indian professionals and businesses, according to Mark Warner, Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and Co-Chair of the Senate India Caucus.

Warner remarked, “It again seems to be a large announcement,” alluding to suggested modifications to the show. He pointed out that it was unclear if the $100,000 cost would be one-time or ongoing. “To my knowledge, I’m not sure where the implementation is, but the administration did say it’s a one-time fee,” he stated.

Warner said it was common to have big announcements followed by information that was released later. He remarked, “Mr. Trump’s administration frequently makes a big announcement, but the details take a long time to come.”

He admitted that there are problems with the H-1B system and that it needs to be changed.

Warner stated, “There are areas where we should have H-1B reform,” pointing out that certain businesses have abused the program. “Some businesses, both American and Indian, use this as a labor arbitrage.”

Such actions, according to Warner, are unjust to American workers. “It is unfair to the American workforce that you can bring a talented worker over at a much cheaper price,” he stated.

He did, however, vigorously defend the program’s overall worth. According to Warner, a number of US economic sectors rely on highly qualified foreign workers.

He remarked, “There are many places where you find talent that isn’t just American.”

According to him, people with H-1B visas have been vital to the US economy. Warner stated, “These H-1B visa holders and many who went on to get green cards have made enormous contributions to this country.”

Warner cautioned that using combative language might have negative diplomatic repercussions. He connected trade conflicts, tariffs, and immigration policy to more general tensions in India-US ties. He expressed alarm about the combined effects of tariffs and attacks on the visa program, saying, “It concerns me.”

According to him, India’s standing in the world has evolved and has to be acknowledged. Warner asserted that “India has arrived as a mature, major world player” and that punitive policies might force New Delhi to consider other options.

Warner also mentioned the Indian American diaspora as a factor that kept the connection stable. Many in the society, he claimed, were wondering why India seemed to be singled out. “Even people who once backed Mr. Trump are now asking, ‘Why does India seem to be picked on more than other nations?’” he asked.

He cautioned that trust would be difficult to rebuild. According to Warner, “trust is very easily broken and very hard to repair.”

Indian professionals make up the majority of recipients of the H-1B program, which has long been a pillar of the US technology, healthcare, and research industries.

Analysts claim that immigration policy has symbolic significance for India-US relations, influencing views of transparency, cooperation, and long-term strategic intent.

On Tuesday, medical professionals asked the government to increase funding for government hospitals and implement tax-funded universal health care in the next Union Budget 2026.

The experts also emphasized the necessity of expanding PMJAY to cover outpatient treatment and the inadequacy of funding in public health care facilities to provide sufficient services to a large number of patients.

Dr. Vinay Aggarwal, former National President of the Indian Medical Association, stated, “We support tax-funded universal health care with a basic health package for all citizens and to increase public health allocation to 2.5–5% of GDP, strengthening government hospitals and human resources.”

He went on, “The government should reform PMJAY to include outpatient care, realistic package rates, DBT, copayments, and timely reimbursements.”

The government should “provide GST exemption on lifesaving equipment, consumables, and all vaccines,” the expert added.

The public sector healthcare system is essential to reaching the objective of universal health coverage, according to a recent report published by The Lancet Commission. An related Comment paper analyzes fundamental flaws in the health system and examines India’s progress toward universal health care.

In particular, it identified persisting gaps in quality, equity, and continuity of care, fragmented governance, inadequate coordination across levels of care, and health services organized around institutions rather than citizens as significant obstacles to UHC.

The study pointed out that working in silos can erode accountability and service continuity and recommended that India implement several programs in order to achieve universal health care.

Instead of concentrating on patient journeys and long-term care requirements, healthcare delivery must continue to be facility-centered. Efficiency and results are further limited by inadequate referral mechanisms and inadequate integration between primary, secondary, and tertiary services.

The report emphasized that without institutional capacity to carry out reforms, policy desire alone is insufficient.

According to Aditya Banerjee, a member of the Medical Technology Association of India (MTaI), “the government has increased the allocation for healthcare in its budget over the last few years, but the continued prioritization of capacity building has often left public healthcare facilities with insufficient funds to deliver adequate services to the large number of patients that they serve.”

“Delivering better patient outcomes for every Rupee spent requires a deliberate shift in the public procurement criteria, from the lowest upfront price to the best long-term value for the entire healthcare system,” he continued.

According to Banerjee, it will help prevent the spiraling healthcare expenses that are currently becoming unsustainable in many industrialized economies worldwide.

The IT industry’s top body, Nasscom, stated on Tuesday that the India-EU trade agreement supports job creation, MSME growth in the tech sector, and overall confidence for investors in India’s services sector by strengthening bilateral trade and economic ties.

Dedicated SME chapters with digital platforms and contact information are part of the FTA.

According to Nasscom, the FTA gives Indian IT exporters a hedge against the unpredictability of international trade by diversifying their markets in light of geopolitical risks.

It improves India’s standing in international digital service value chains. In order to better comprehend the operationalization of the FTA clause, we shall wait for the comprehensive draft text,” it continued.

Services benefit more from expanding markets and rule-based predictability than products do from significant tariff reductions.

The benefits would come in the form of improved EU market access for Indian technology, as services are a significant and rapidly expanding sector of both economies.

According to Nasscom, this might reduce non-tariff obstacles and facilitate cross-border deliveries.

“Digital trade regulations that promote business while safeguarding security, privacy, and public policy.” More prospects in Europe, such as simpler cross-border service delivery (Mode 1 under GATS) and possibly better professional mobility (via Mode 4), will benefit Indian IT companies, it said.

In order to facilitate Social Security Agreements with all EU member states within five years, India and the EU have reached a cooperative framework.

Building on the India-EU Trade and Technology Council, the agreement promotes closer cooperation between the EU and India in the fields of technology, innovation, and digitalization.

Increased EU investment in India’s IT sector, joint ventures, AI, semiconductor, clean tech, and startup R&D could result from this. According to Nasscom, technology transfer, co-creation, and increased alliances could be advantageous to Indian IT enterprises.

In particular, the trade agreement empowers labor-intensive industries, MSMEs, women entrepreneurs, craftsmen, and youth—key focal areas of the government’s inclusive growth agenda—by providing Indian exporters with unprecedented market access for a wide range of goods and services.

After an exciting 3-2 victory over Ranchi Royals at Kalinga Hockey Stadium on Monday, the Kalinga Lancers were declared the Hockey India League (HIL) 2025–26 champions.

After winning the championship, Captain Arthur Van Doren considered the difficulties encountered during the season and attributed the triumph to the team’s camaraderie and the backing of the home crowd.

The team’s quick four-week preparation time comes to a close with the championship victory. “Four weeks to build a bond and shape a team is a very short time, and it is extremely challenging,” Arthur added, highlighting the difficulty of creating a cohesive team in such a short amount of time. We are immensely proud of what we have accomplished because of this. I think we did a great job—we built a strong, cohesive team, and it ultimately showed on the field.

When facing the Ranchi Royals, a team they had already faced three times in the competition, Arthur emphasized the importance of maintaining an offensive mindset.

“They are an amazing team to play against, with an extremely aggressive style that also provides excellent spectator entertainment.” What matters most to us is how we performed against one of the top teams in the competition, and we are really proud of that,” he stated.

The Lancers’ strategy was to continue attacking rather than retiring into a completely defensive stance, even as they protected a one-goal advantage in the closing seconds of the game.

“It’s crucial to continue playing our natural game. Sitting back and merely defending is a risk since it lets the enemy launch constant attacks. He continued, “We made sure we remained upbeat, continued to attack, and even though they created a few opportunities, we stood strong together as a unit.”

After winning the league stage and securing their spot in Qualifier 1, the Lancers’ remarkable run saw just one loss throughout the tournament, and that came in a dead rubber match.

“The home crowd is always a huge bonus,” Arthur said, highlighting how the home crowd’s support has contributed to such a good run. Even if it’s only by a few percent, the energy they provide uplifts us and has a significant impact. We have cherished every moment of that amazing atmosphere.