While presenting the Union Budget 2026, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a slew of projects for election-bound states like Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Assam.
However, Nirmala Sitharaman clarified that the Union Budget 2026 is not populist, but focused on people. Here are projects that will benefit states heading to assembly elections in April.
Rare earth corridor for Kerala, Tamil Nadu
A scheme for rare earth permanent magnets was launched in November. Centre to support mineral-rich states of Kerala, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Among these, Kerala and Tamil Nadu are heading to assembly polls in April.
High-speed rail corridor for Tamil Nadu, West Bengal
Tamil Nadu got a boost with high speed rail corridors connecting state capital Chennai with Hyderabad and Bengaluru.
West Bengal also received a high speed rail corridor connecting the state's Siliguri with Varanasi. West Bengal's Dankuni will be connected with Gujarat's Surat with a new dedicated freight corridor to promote environmentally sustainable movement of cargo.
Turtle trails in Kerala
Centre proposed turtle trails along key nesting sites in the coastal areas of Odisha, Karnataka and Kerala and three bird watching trails, along the Pulicat Lake in Andhra Pradesh.
Tourism destination in West Bengal
The Centre will create five tourism destinations in the five Purvodaya states, including West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh and will make provisions for 4,000 e-buses
Clinical trial sites
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government will create a network of over 1,000 accredited Indian clinical trial sites. Tamil Nadu capital Chennai will be among the cities that will benefit from this project. Other cities where clinical trial sites are currently located include Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, and Hyderabad.
Assam to benefit from Buddhist circuits development
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed to launch a scheme for the development of Buddhist circuits in six northeastern states -- Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura.