Budget 2026: Growth, Tax Reforms, and Economic Outlook

The Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, is going to present the Budget for the 9th time.

This year's Budget is expected to focus on several important areas like helping small businesses, improving infrastructure, and supporting the defence sector.

The economy is expected to grow by 6.9% in the next fiscal year, down from 7.4% in the current year.

Last year, the government made some changes to the income tax rules to make them simpler and reduce the amount of tax people have to pay.

They also gave money to states for urban development and started a scheme to help new entrepreneurs.

This year, people are hoping for more changes to the tax rules and support for different sectors of the economy.

The Budget will be presented on February 1, which is a Sunday, but the government might decide to stick to the tradition and present it on that day.

Non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) are expected to report healthy growth in the quarter ended December 2025, thanks to GST reforms and an uptick in festive demand.

The Finance Ministry has also announced a three-year public-private-partnership (PPP) project pipeline with 852 projects across Central Infrastructure Ministries and States/Union Territories, with a combined total project cost of over ₹17 lakh crore.