Overview
- Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman set non-debt receipts at Rs 36.5 lakh crore, total expenditure at Rs 53.5 lakh crore and targeted a 4.3% fiscal deficit, with a record Rs 2.78 lakh crore for Indian Railways.
- Seven high-speed rail corridors were announced—linking routes such as Mumbai–Pune, Pune–Hyderabad, Hyderabad–Bengaluru, Chennai–Bengaluru, Delhi–Varanasi and Varanasi–Siliguri—at an estimated combined cost of about Rs 16 lakh crore.
- Customs-duty reliefs expand duty-free inputs for sectors including leather, textiles and seafood processing, and reduce costs on lithium-ion cells, solar glass and select capital goods, a move positioned to blunt higher U.S. tariffs under President Trump; a new integrated customs IT system and single-window clearances are planned.
- The package reiterates an electronics and semiconductor push with a Rs 40,000 crore provision for component manufacturing, and outlines rare earth corridors in Odisha, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu; tourism measures include an upgraded National Institute of Hospitality, IIM-supported training for 10,000 guides and development of 15 heritage sites.
- Reactions split along party lines as supporters hailed capex and stability and critics flagged limited big-ticket reforms, while the absence of fresh funding for Iran’s Chabahar port drew strategic concern about regional access and influence.