Budget 2026 Expectations LIVE: Industry Calls for Decisive Action to Curb Housing Affordability Divide

As luxury housing sales and prices continue to hit record highs, India risks sliding into a deeply unequal housing market, warned Anuj Puri, Chairman of ANAROCK Group.

He added that the country faces a critical moment where affordability pressures could shut millions out of homeownership unless Budget 2026 delivers strong, targeted interventions.

“We are now looking at very real possibility of a two-tiered housing market that makes owning impossible for millions of Indians,” he said.

As the Union Budget 2026 approaches, the apparel and textile sector is closely watching for measures on cost competitiveness and export support. These policies will play a key role in the industry’s overall growth.

"Ahead of Budget 2026, the industry will be looking for measures that improve ease of doing business for MSME manufacturers including smoother access to working capital and support for technology adoption across production and sourcing. Continued investment in logistics, warehousing and digital supply chains can help reduce turnaround times for both domestic retail and export markets," said Abhishek Dua, Co-Founder, Showroom B2B.

India’s crypto investors have steadily moved from hype-driven moves to a more disciplined, long-term approach to virtual digital asset investing.

"As the 2026 Union Budget approaches, we have an opportunity to align regulations with the evolving maturity of Indian crypto investors. While the 2022 Union Budget gave the sector formal recognition, measures such as the 1% TDS on transactions pushed trading activity offshore, reducing transparency within the domestic ecosystem," said Edul Patel, CEO of Mudrex.

"The inability to set off losses against gains has also limited prudent portfolio management. Reducing TDS to 0.1% and allowing loss offsetting could lower friction, encourage responsible participation, and support a transparent, compliant, and sustainable crypto ecosystem in India," he added.

Ahead of the Union Budget 2026, education experts have called for a shift towards improving quality, infrastructure, and future-ready skills, PTI reported. With India’s youth population forming the largest demographic cohort globally, experts say strategic investment in higher education infrastructure and upskilling has become the need of the hour.

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As the government readies the Union Budget 2026, India’s real estate sector is looking to the government for targeted policy interventions after demonstrating strong resilience through shifting interest rate cycles, inflationary pressures and global uncertainty. 

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“India’s start-up ecosystem has shown what is possible when policy, capital, and talent come together. In the upcoming Union Budget, we hope to see continued focus on simplifying regulations, improving access to early-stage capital, and encouraging long-term innovation. Measures that reduce compliance friction, support deep-tech and SaaS startups, and create a stable, predictable policy environment will help founders build with confidence. A budget that backs startups at every stage will strengthen India’s position as a global hub for entrepreneurship and innovation," said Vinay Singh, CEO & Co-founder, LdotR.

“The Union Budget is a key opportunity to accelerate India’s drone and deep-tech ecosystem through an infrastructure-first approach. Strengthening Drone Shakti through incentive-based manufacturing will clearly signal India’s shift from pilot adoption to large-scale expansion of the drone economy. Priority support for skill-linked training infrastructure, indigenous component manufacturing, and shared testing and certification facilities is essential to reduce import dependence and speed up innovation," said Dr Preet Sandhu, Founder & Managing Director, AVPL International.

"As an auto dealership in Haryana and Punjab selling diesel, petrol, and hybrid passenger cars, we seek a fiscal budget that enhances ease of doing business by minimizing government hurdles. Strong support for hybrids—practical and eco-friendly for India's emerging economy—through incentives, tax rebates, and simplified regulations will boost adoption, reduce emissions, and drive sustainable growth for dealerships like ours," said Vivek Datta, MD & CEO, Globe Toyota, JCBL Group.

The Union Budget 2026 presents a defining opportunity for India’s hospitality industry. Our sector has shown exceptional resilience over the past three years, making substantial contributions to GDP, employment, and foreign exchange earnings.

"Our foremost priority is securing infrastructure status for hotels. This designation would fundamentally transform our ability to access capital on favorable terms, enabling faster capacity expansion despite robust demand from leisure and corporate segments," said Col. Manbeer Choudhary, CMD, Noormahal Group.

He also added that granting industry status to hospitality would be a meaningful step, helping hotels, especially small and mid-sized properties, access institutional finance, reduce borrowing costs, and invest in long-term infrastructure. Choudhary also highlights funding challenges and project delays as an obstacle to the sector's growth.

Stock broking major JM Financial is expecting a possible increase in excise duty on petrol and diesel in the Budget 2026, a key policy move that could significantly risk India's downstream oil marketing companies (OMCs).

In its recent reports, the brokerage firm highlighted two main themes, first, that downstream OMCs like Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) and Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) may face fiscal pressure if the government uses excise duty to boost revenue.

In a detailed memorandum submitted by industry body NASSCOM, the sector has sought higher tax deductions for new employment, changes to foreign tax rules and greater certainty on data centre and treaty-related taxation.

The demand comes as IT companies including Infosys and HCLTech, among others, have announced plans to hire specialised workforce for their Gen AI, cloud services, and other deep-tech offerings.