The Central government's 'Sankalp' (resolve) is to focus on the poor, underprivileged, and disadvantaged, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said while presenting the Union Budget on Sunday. "Our 'Kartavya' (duty) is to accelerate and sustain economic growth and fulfil the aspirations of the people," she said.
Presenting Union Budget 2026-27, she also proposed a scheme for container manufacturing to create globally competitive ecosystem. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday announced that the Self-Reliant India Fund will be topped up by Rs 4,000 crore in 2026-27 to support micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). The fund was announced in 2023 to infuse Rs 50,000 crore in equity funding into MSMEs with the potential and viability to grow into large units. Here are five things that the Finance Minister mentioned in the first thirty minutes of the budget:
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1. The Centre will introduce a container manufacturing scheme, Rs 10,000 crore over five years. There will also be a scheme for the focused enhancement of construction and infrastructure equipment in order to strengthen domestic manufacturing. A scheme for enhancement for construction and infrastructure equipment will be introduced to strengthen domestic manufacturing, Sitharaman said.
2. The Finance Minister proposed setting up mega textile parks. The 'Mahatma Gandhi Gram Swaraj Initiative' will be launched to strengthen khadi and handicraft textiles in the country.
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3. The mineral-rich states of Odisha, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu will be supported by the Centre. 'India Semiconductor Mission 2.0' will focus on industry-led research and training centres for semiconductors.
4. The FM proposed developing seven high-speed rail corridors. The cities to be connected under the project include Mumbai to Pune, Pune to Hyderabad, Hyderabad to Chennai, Delhi to Varanasi, and Varanasi to Siliguri.
5. The Union Budget proposed a three-pronged approach to help MSMEs grow. It proposed to top up the Self-Reliant India Fund with Rs 4,000 crore in FY27 to support MSMEs, before declaring the plan to make TReDS the transaction platform for all purchases from MSMEs by central public sector enterprises. TReDS platform - Receivables Exchange of India Ltd (RXIL) is a joint venture promoted by SIDBI and NSE.