Budget 2026 Expectations Live: Focus On Rural Credit, GST Reforms And More

Nikhil Sharma, Managing Director and COO, South Asia, Radisson Hotel Group says, "Tourism and hospitality are at a critical inflection point as demand deepens across leisure, religious, MICE and medical travel." He expects the Budget to recognise hospitality as productive economic infrastructure rather than discretionary consumption. "Granting infrastructure status, GST rationalisation and restoration of input tax credit," Sharma says, "can unlock long-term financing and improve competitiveness. Targeted incentives, connectivity investment and hospitality-specific skilling can position the sector as a key engine of inclusive growth."

Mr Shaji Varghese, CEO, Muthoot FinCorp Ltd. said, "We recommend budgetary measures for more credit supply to the rural and lower middle-income segments in India. To achieve this, the Union Budget 2026 can include measures for liberalising branch-opening norms for Gold Loan NBFCs to accelerate outreach and deepen market penetration, especially for secured Gold Loans which carry relatively lower risk. Rationalising capital risk weights for Gold Loans by NBFCs to reduce the cost of lending and enable greater credit flow to rural and semi-urban markets." He further recommended, "Harmonising SARFAESI Act applicability for NBFCs in line with banks and Housing Finance Companies (HFCs) to help drive rural housing credit and strengthen recovery mechanisms for smaller-ticket mortgage loans. Also, designing targeted schemes to ensure customers who experienced temporary or one-time credit default are not permanently excluded from formal banking channels and are brought back into the lending ecosystem. And lastly, promoting formalisation of gold lending by encouraging policy reforms that shift activity from informal channels to regulated institutions and strengthen consumer protection."

Mayank Kale, CEO and Co-founder, Loop Health says, "Budget 2026 presents a chance to correct a structural imbalance in India’s health insurance system, where group health insurance receives no tax support." He expects zero-rating of GST on group health premiums and full input tax credit to lower employer costs and boost preventive care. With the New Tax Regime reducing the relevance of Section 80D, Kale adds that incentives must shift toward prevention, early detection and workforce health, which is an economic priority.

Venkatraman Narayanan, Managing Director, Happiest Minds Technologies says, "Union Budget 2026 is an important opportunity to strengthen the operating environment for India’s IT industry as it enters its next growth phase." He expects policies that promote ease of doing business, technology exports and regulatory clarity for global digital delivery. "Incentives for digital engineering, cybersecurity and platform-led services, along with simplified compliance norms," he says, "can help mid-sized IT firms scale sustainably. Focused investments in industry-aligned skilling and academia-industry collaboration will be key to maintaining India’s global tech leadership.: