<p>Union Finance Minister <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/nirmala-sitharaman">Nirmala Sitharaman</a> presented her ninth consecutive <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/union-budget-2026">budget</a> amid unprecedented global headwinds and what presents as a collapse of the world order. In this gloomy picture marked by a rethink of geo-economic alliances, India can count its achievements – benign retail inflation, real economic growth rates above the global average, narrowing current account deficit, a sustained increase in forex reserves, and a commitment to fiscal consolidation. </p><p>The stock markets were quick with their verdict. The key headline indices ended some 2 per cent down, giving a thumbs-down largely on an increase in the securities transaction tax in F&O operations. But what do the bare numbers tell us?</p>.Union Budget 2026: Finance Minister Sitharaman announces NIMHANS in North India, healthcare boost.<p>The GDP for FY 2026-27, estimated at Rs 393,00,393 crore, is 10 per cent higher than the advance estimates for FY 2025-26 of Rs 357,13,886 crore. Capital expenditure as proportion of GDP in 2026-27 is budgeted at 3.1 per cent as in FY 2025-26. The revenue deficit has been left unchanged at 1.5 per cent of GDP. </p><p>This exposes the underlying vulnerabilities, pointing to the dis-savings of the government, potentially leading to a drag on growth. To put it in other words, the government is unable to contain its revenue expenditure largely because of the structural nature of the spends, indicative of a trap. </p><p>The persistence of a revenue deficit implies that borrowing continues to finance a portion of the consumption expenditure. Non-tax revenue is budgeted at 1.7 per cent of GDP, as against 1.87 per cent in the revised estimates. Disinvestment proceeds have been budgeted higher at Rs 80,000 crore, a rather optimistic rise from Rs 47,000 crore for the previous year (reduced to Rs 33,837 crore in the revised estimates).</p>.Union Budget 2026: Will smartphones become cheaper?.<p>The focus has been in line with the recent budgets, drawing on conservative estimates on revenues and spending. Customs duty exemptions have been proposed as part of targeted efforts to ease costs across multiple sectors. There are proposals aimed at easing financial pressures faced by the middle class. While prices of electronic and consumer goods, medicines, EV batteries, and leather products are expected to come down, coffee, imported alcohol, and fertilisers are set to get costlier. </p><p>A gentle verdict would be to call the Budget an effort that does not drift far off the beaten track, sticking to the basics, and maintaining a prudent approach towards the goals of fiscal consolidation. A fair verdict would be to call this an uninspiring effort. Ask the markets, and they’ll call it worse, if seen in the slide in stocks, which was the worst crash seen in six years after a Union Budget presentation.</p>
<p>Union Finance Minister <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/nirmala-sitharaman">Nirmala Sitharaman</a> presented her ninth consecutive <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/union-budget-2026">budget</a> amid unprecedented global headwinds and what presents as a collapse of the world order. In this gloomy picture marked by a rethink of geo-economic alliances, India can count its achievements – benign retail inflation, real economic growth rates above the global average, narrowing current account deficit, a sustained increase in forex reserves, and a commitment to fiscal consolidation. </p><p>The stock markets were quick with their verdict. The key headline indices ended some 2 per cent down, giving a thumbs-down largely on an increase in the securities transaction tax in F&O operations. But what do the bare numbers tell us?</p>.Union Budget 2026: Finance Minister Sitharaman announces NIMHANS in North India, healthcare boost.<p>The GDP for FY 2026-27, estimated at Rs 393,00,393 crore, is 10 per cent higher than the advance estimates for FY 2025-26 of Rs 357,13,886 crore. Capital expenditure as proportion of GDP in 2026-27 is budgeted at 3.1 per cent as in FY 2025-26. The revenue deficit has been left unchanged at 1.5 per cent of GDP. </p><p>This exposes the underlying vulnerabilities, pointing to the dis-savings of the government, potentially leading to a drag on growth. To put it in other words, the government is unable to contain its revenue expenditure largely because of the structural nature of the spends, indicative of a trap. </p><p>The persistence of a revenue deficit implies that borrowing continues to finance a portion of the consumption expenditure. Non-tax revenue is budgeted at 1.7 per cent of GDP, as against 1.87 per cent in the revised estimates. Disinvestment proceeds have been budgeted higher at Rs 80,000 crore, a rather optimistic rise from Rs 47,000 crore for the previous year (reduced to Rs 33,837 crore in the revised estimates).</p>.Union Budget 2026: Will smartphones become cheaper?.<p>The focus has been in line with the recent budgets, drawing on conservative estimates on revenues and spending. Customs duty exemptions have been proposed as part of targeted efforts to ease costs across multiple sectors. There are proposals aimed at easing financial pressures faced by the middle class. While prices of electronic and consumer goods, medicines, EV batteries, and leather products are expected to come down, coffee, imported alcohol, and fertilisers are set to get costlier. </p><p>A gentle verdict would be to call the Budget an effort that does not drift far off the beaten track, sticking to the basics, and maintaining a prudent approach towards the goals of fiscal consolidation. A fair verdict would be to call this an uninspiring effort. Ask the markets, and they’ll call it worse, if seen in the slide in stocks, which was the worst crash seen in six years after a Union Budget presentation.</p>
