Budget Expectations Highlights: What goals Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman expected to deliver?

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Bikash Kumar Mishra, the CFO of Easy Home Finance believes that a data-led approach that reduces process friction and offers targeted tax relief can make homeownership more achievable for first-time buyers in the country.

“Industry and regulatory trends indicate that over 70% of incremental housing demand is now coming from first-time buyers and middle-income families, particularly in the ₹25–60 lakh property segment,” he said.

From a financing standpoint, the challenge is less about demand and more about friction from issues such as time consuming documentation and verification process, affordability and lack of capital flow into the housing finance sector.

Abhineet Kumar, the CEO & Founder of Rocket Health, has urged the government to build national mental health stack where ethical AI-enabled tools would support early intervention, preventive care, and continuity of support.

“India needs a public–private mental health infrastructure strategy. As a country, we lose billions in productivity to untreated mental health conditions. As India digitises rapidly, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build a national mental health stack where ethical AI-enabled tools support early intervention, preventive care, and continuity of support, in partnership with private mental healthcare players who have already demonstrated early wins in expanding access across India,” he noted.

“The government has successfully removed the Angel Tax hurdle for future investments. Now, to truly ignite long-term investor confidence, Budget 2026 must focus on ecosystem hygiene and predictable closure,” says Rathnakar Samavedam, the Investment Director & Managing Partner at Hyderabad Angles Fund.

Therefore, he urges the Finance Minister to introduce two core procedural reforms:

— A Legacy Settlement Window: A one-time, simplified mechanism to finally resolve all pending, retrospective Angel Tax disputes, freeing historical capital and entrepreneurs from litigation burden.

— Fast-Track Loss-Booking: Directly link the startup's official Strike-Off with the Income Tax Act, granting investors immediate, legal clarity to book capital losses.

Shreya Anand, the Director of Vedaanta Senior Living expects the government to come up with thoughtful policies, accessible systems and investment in senior-focused infrastructure.

“India is entering a longevity era where older adults are reshaping how we understand ageing. In the next decade, seniors will form nearly 20 percent of our population, yet only a very small share of public spending is directed toward their needs,” she said.

While initiatives like the National Programme for Health Care of the Elderly are encouraging, the pace of demographic change requires clearer and stronger policy frameworks, she added. Hence she expects the government to take note of assisted living, retirement living and rehabilitation care becoming a necessity rather than a luxury, and these services need to be covered under insurance.

Sanjay Sehgal, Founder, Chairman & CEO of Aziro feels the real opportunity lies in recognising AI as a foundational economic driver, that can support holistic and inclusive development if guided with care.

Expectations:

• Focused investment in AI-led research and development, robust digital infrastructure, and large-scale skilling of our workforce must be prioritised in both policy intent and resource allocation.
• Support local innovation, build explainable and ethical AI frameworks, and encourage collaboration between industry, research institutions, and academia will help create solutions that are both advanced and accountable.
• Access to high-performance computing, wider AI adoption among MSMEs, and a simplified regulatory environment can further democratise this technology.

Amith Agarwal, co-founder and CEO of StarAgri feels that the agritech sector is hopeful and has and has clear expectations from the Budget.

• Renewed push to the Digital Agriculture Mission especially by supporting agritech companies with projects in AI-based crop monitoring, GPS-driven farm mapping, and intelligent interventions such as drone-enabled farming can accelerate this shift meaningfully.
• A policy or committee to develop an alternative rural credit framework that reflects the realities of farmers' incomes and financial behaviour.
• Agri- and rural-focused NBFCs that specialise in farmer credit should receive differentiated ratings and enhanced lending limit.

According to Aditya Kale, Founder & CEO of Airattix, Budget 2026 must shift from capacity creation to enabling smarter, technology-driven storage solutions.

• Policy support for digitally connected warehousing, shared and distributed storage models, and AI-led space management can significantly improve utilisation and demand responsiveness.
• Greater emphasis on automation, energy efficiency, and digital operations can unlock underutilised storage, especially in dense urban and fast-growing semi-urban markets.
• Continued investment in logistics corridors remains essential, while targeted skilling, tax rationalisation, and better access to finance can further boost MSME participation and long-term job creation.

According to Ricky Vasandani, CEO & Co- founder of Solitario, the Centre's decision to recognise lab-grown diamonds as a sunrise sector under Make in India, plus removal of customs duty on diamond seeds has improved industry margins by 5–8%.

Budget expectations include:

• Continued policy stability,
• Expanded R&D incentives and easier access to financing for manufacturers,
• With Indigenous technology — including initiatives such as the IIT Madras seed programme — India could reduce production costs by 20–30% over the next two years, making lab-grown diamonds more affordable globally while strengthening exports and job creation.

Virtual digital assets (VDAs) stakeholders in India have high expectations from the government — from regulatory clarity to clear taxation policy, and cryptocurrency framework. The expectations included recommendations for:

• Reduction in TDS on VDA transactions from 1%
• Raising the TDS threshold to ₹5 lakh
• Review of the flat 30% tax on VDA gains
• Allowance of offset for loss from VDA transactions
• Aligning capital gains taxation with income slabs
• A dedicated Crypto Bill in India
• Alignment of SEBI guidelines for companies that hold BTC on their balance sheets

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Anushika Jain, Founder and CEO of Globally Recruit believes that India’s education sector is witnessing rapid transformation, and the upcoming Union Budget offers a pivotal opportunity to empower India’s learners and innovators.

Expectations include:

• Encourage edtech platforms to expand access, reduce barriers, and deliver transformative learning experiences.
• Initiatives such as tax incentives, funding for skill‑building initiatives, and infrastructure support for digital education.
• Foster collaboration between academia, industry, and government.

Jasraaj S Kalra, MD of Noble Group shared that the consumer durables sector expects the Union Budget 2026–27:

• To boost consumption through stable taxation and income-led demand measures,
• Enable scale manufacturing through localisation of components and electronics.

“A demand-driven approach supported by strong domestic supply chains will allow Indian manufacturers to expand capacity, improve efficiencies, and reduce import dependence,” he added.

• Budget 2026 marks Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's ninth consecutive Union Budget presentation.
• The budget session kicks off on 28 January with a joint address by the President in Parliament.
• Key dates: Presentation of the Economic Survey on 31 January, Budget speech on 1 February, Budget session ends 2 April.

Budget 2026 is significant because this is the 9th consecutive time FM Nirmala Sitharaman is set to present the annual financial statement. Next year, she will equal Moraji Desai's record of presenting 10 Budgets. Sitharaman is the only finance minister to have presented nine consecutive budgets.

Budget 2026 will also be the second full-fledged Budget of the third term of the Narendra Modi-led central government. Last year, Sitharaman presented the Budget in July after the government was voted to power.

The Union Budget is an annual exercise in which the Finance Minister lays forth the year's financial statement before both Houses of Parliament under Article 112 of the Constitution of India. The Budget typically contains the estimated annual receipts and expenditure of the following financial year.

The Union Budget also announces tax amendment proposals, key areas for expenditure and development, proposed policies, and reforms.

Good morning and welcome to Mint's LIVE coverage ahead of the Union Budget 2026, as we bring you the latest news and updates and industry expectations ahead of the official announcement this year.