Budget 2026: Rare Earth Minerals Corridors, Rs 10,000 Cr For Biopharma, Changes In ITR Deadlines | Key Announcements By FM Sitharaman

Budget 2026: In her record ninth consecutive Union Budget speech, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled a fiscal roadmap centred on the empowerment of Yuvashakti and three kartavyas. As taxpayers, businesses, and markets closely look for announcements, the focus remains fixed on tax relief, spending priorities and growth measures. 

Budget 2026: Key Announcements

Here are the key announcements from Sitharaman’s Budget speech as they happen.

ALSO READ: Union Budget 2026 Live Updates: New Income Tax Act 2025 To Be Implemented From April 1, Announces FM Sitharaman

- Sitharaman announced the launch of India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) 2.0 and a massive Rs 40,000 crore outlay for electronics component manufacturing (ECMS).

- -"To develop India as a global bio-pharma manufacturing hub, I propose Bio Pharma Shakti with an outlay of Rs 10,000 crores over the next 5 years. This will build an ecosystem for domestic productions of biologics and biosimilars," the FM said.

- Creation of one lakh Allied Health Professionals in 10 disciplines like optometry, radiology, anaesthesia, and 1.5 lakh geriatric caregivers for geriatric and NSQF-aligned programs over the next five years.

- Establishment of a high-powered Education-to-Employment Committee to align the services sector towards Viksit Bharat.

- Finance Minister proposes to launch Bharat Vistar, a multilingual AI tool to integrate the agri stack. 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Daily Jagran (@thedailyjagran)

- Sitharaman announced the development of seven high-speed rail corridors between cities - Mumbai to Pune, Pune to Hyderabad, Hyderabad to Chennai, Delhi to Varanasi, Varanasi to Siliguri.

- Establishment of a dedicated rare earth mineral corridor across Odisha, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu.

- In a major push to the textile industry, Sitharaman announced the 'Mahatma Gandhi Handloom scheme'.

- In her record ninth consecutive Budget address, Finance Minister confirmed that the Income Tax Act, 2025, will officially come into effect on April 1, 2026, with rules and tax return forms to be notified shortly. 

ALSO READ: Education Budget 2026-27: 1 Girls' Hostel In Each District, 3 New Ayurveda Institutes; Check Key Announcements For Education Sector

- The Finance Minister has proposed extending the deadline for filing revised Income Tax Returns from December 31 to March 31, on a nominal fee.

- For the 2026-27 fiscal year, Sitharaman has announced a rule-based automated process, designed to simplify tax filing for small taxpayers.

- To position India as a global healthcare hub, Sitharaman on Sunday proposed to establish five dedicated hubs for medical tourism.

- The government has set a target to reduce the debt-to-GDP ratio to 55.6 per cent in FY27, down from the current 56.1 per cent.

- Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1 announced that the fiscal deficit is projected to be 4.3 per cent of GDP for the 2026-27 financial year (FY27).

- In her ninth consecutive budget speech, Sitharaman proposed a capital expenditure (capex) outlay of Rs 12.2 lakh crore for FY27.

- The Finance Minister proposed to reduce the tariff rates on all dutiable goods imported for personal use from 20 per cent to 10 per cent.

- Sitharaman on Sunday proposed a tax holiday till 2047 for foreign companies providing cloud services worldwide from Indian data centres.

- The Finance Minister has proposed to reduce customs duty on parts used for manufacturing civilian training and other aircraft. She has also proposed to exempt customs duty on raw materials imported for making aircraft parts.

- In a key announcement aimed at moving women beyond traditional income-linked models, Sitharaman announced the extension of the Lakhpati Didi programme. She proposed supporting women to take "the next step from credit-linked livelihoods to being owners of enterprises."