?? LIVE: Union Budget 2025-26

As India approaches the Union Budget 2025-26, all eyes will be on the government’s fiscal roadmap for the upcoming year. This budget is expected to introduce transformative measures that will impact various sectors and set the tone for India’s growth in the near future.

In this article, we will provide live updates and expert views on the key announcements and their implications. Stay tuned as we decode the impact of these strategic initiatives on India’s economy, industries, and businesses in real-time, with expert insights as they unfold.

Crisil Views:

• The additional budgetary allocation of Rs 10,000 crore will offer a fillip to the fast-growing AIF industry and encourage more domestic institutional fund flows into the category.
• PM Dhan Dhanya Krishi Yojana introduced holistically covers major concerns of Indian agricultural system i.e., productivity, crop intensity and the post-harvest ecosystem. This is crucial because the past decade has seen cereal productivity in India declining 1-2%. Additionally, ICAR has estimated climate change will cause an impact of 10-30% by 2050.
• The transformation of India Post into a massive logistics organisation by revamping over 1.5 lakh rural post offices can catalyse economic growth in hinterland.
• India’s import of pulses doubled on-year in fiscal 2024, peaking to 6.63 million tonne – equal to ~25% of the consumption for the year - amid the fight to curb retail inflation. In the context, the government’s announcement of a 6-year mission for pulses, focusing on tur, urad and masoor is salutary. Through NAFED and NCCF, over the next 4 years, these pulses will be procured from farmers who are registered and have made agreements with these institutes.
• The government's move to promote clean technology manufacturing for solar photovoltaic cells will provide the necessary fillip to the 45+ GW cell manufacturing allocation done under the Productivity Linked Scheme. The move will also align with the recently announced Approved List of Cell and Manufacturers from June 2026.
• The enhancement of the Kisan Credit Card limit for dairy farmers from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 5 lakh is expected to provide significant relief during periods of distress, such as disease outbreaks, and the flush season, when milk prices typically tend to decline. This will aid the dairy sector, which accounts for around 24% of Agri GDP.
• The five-year mission aimed to enhance cotton productivity and sustainability will boost the supply of extra-long staple cotton varieties. This will help yarn manufacturers, support farmer income and encourage cotton acreage.
• India is revamping its tourism sector through a multi-faceted approach, aiming to boost its contribution to GDP from 5% now to 9-12%, which will be comparable to peer countries. The initiatives include enhancing last-mile connectivity, expanding the UDAN scheme, upgrading tourist destinations, simplifying visa regulations and improving the overall hygiene quotient.
• India accounts for a third of the world's cotton acreage, but its yields have declined by 30% since fiscal 2014. Current yields are well below the global average of 675 kg per hectare. The Mission for Cotton Productivity aims to boost yields, sustainability and farmer income, while supporting India's textile sector with a steady supply of high-quality cotton.
• The revamped Shipbuilding Financial Assistance Policy - (under the aegis of the Maritime Development Fund) with corpus of Rs 25,000 crore (with 49% government contribution), will address the cost disadvantage that India’s shipbuilders are weighed down by.
• The Maritime Development Fund will offer much-needed impetus to build infrastructure in areas such as ship building, ship recycling and build mega ports. It will help India’s major ports to venture into greenfield opportunities.
• India's urea production has risen from 225 lakh metric tonne (LMT) in fiscal 2015 to a record 314.07 LMT last fiscal. To meet the annual demand of 360 LMT, a new urea plant with a capacity of 12.7 LMT to be set up in Namrup, Assam. A positive step towards self-sufficiency.
• Kisan credit cards continue to facilitate short-term loans via ~7.7 crore operative accounts and credit outstanding of ~Rs 9.9 lakh crore as of September 2024. The loan limit under the modified interest subvention scheme will be increased from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 5 lakh for loans taken through the KCC. This increases the financial support potentially available for agricultural production.
• The second tranche of SWAMIH Fund proposed, with an outlay of Rs 1,500 crore, is expected to benefit around 1 lakh crore stalled residential units.
• The doubling of credit guarantee cover for micro enterprises from Rs 5 crore to Rs 10 crore is expected to play a vital role in addressing the considerable funding gap of Rs 20-25 lakh crore faced by MSMEs. Bank credit to MSMEs already saw a significant 22% surge on-year last fiscal, outpacing the 17.5% growth in other categories. Additionally, the amount guaranteed under the CGTMSE scheme saw a substantial 51% rise last fiscal. All this will substantially improve the credit access of MSMEs and foster their growth.
• The introduction of an Investment Friendly Charter for states is expected to spark a virtuous cycle of competition and benchmarking among them to attract investments, while also facilitating the sharing of best practices and initiatives. This will enable states to learn from each other and adopt successful strategies from other countries, ultimately creating a more conducive business environment and driving economic growth.
• Focus on medical tourism and ‘Heal in India’ is a good step to improve India's medical tourism ranking from #10 in 2020-21. This would help the wider tourism ecosystem as well as the healthcare sector. India ranks third in terms of cost and fourth in terms of facilities and services. Its waiting time for key medical procedures is also significantly lower compared with 120-250 days in the developed nations.