Industry leaders welcomed Union Budget 2026 on Sunday and gave their reactions about its impact on the economy.
Talking about the recalibration of the Securities Transaction Tax (STT) mentioned in the budget, BSE’s MD and CEO Sundararaman Ramamurthy said that it is designed to discourage speculation and encourage investor focus on long-term equity participation.
“From a market standpoint, the measures announced—ranging from initiatives to deepen corporate and municipal bond markets, enhanced investment limits for PROl, adjustments to the buyback tax, and other reforms—are clearly development-oriented.”
“The proposed public capital expenditure of approximately Rs 12 trillion is poised to generate a substantial positive impact across the economy. Furthermore, the recalibration of Securities Transaction Tax (STT) is designed to encourage investor focus on long-term equity participation, thereby fostering healthier liquidity and more sustainable market dynamics”.
“This budget marks another significant step towards realizing the vision of Viksit Bharat, with a strong emphasis on capital formation, fiscal discipline, and the advancement of key growth pillars such as infrastructure, manufacturing, services, and SMEs,” Ramamurthy said.
NSE MD and CEO Ashishlumar Chauhan stated that, “The message from the economy is that strong growth and fiscal discipline can advance together. It stays firmly on the consolidation path, with the fiscal deficit easing from 4.4% to 4.3% of GDP and debt-to-GDP declining from 56.1% to 55.6%, keeping India on track toward the 50% ±1% target by FY31. This signals macro stability and policy credibility to investors and markets”.
According to a statement by NCDEX’s MD & CEO Arun Raste, the budget signals a transition in India’s agriculture strategy. “This Budget clearly reinforces a decisive transition in India’s agri strategy, from production-led interventions to value-driven, market-oriented growth. The emphasis on high-value agriculture, allied sectors and AI-enabled platforms such as Bharat Vistar has the potential to enhance productivity, improve income diversification and strengthen delivery efficiency over time.
“From a market development standpoint, the focus rightly shifts towards improving participation, price discovery and risk management. Commodities such as maize, soymeal and oilseed cakes are likely to see demand tailwinds as institutional feed requirements rise with credit-linked livestock entrepreneurship. Initiatives such as the ‘She-Mark’ enhance women entrepreneurs’ access to credit and financial instruments,” Raste said.
“Going forward, greater clarity on the taxation and regulatory framework for commodity derivatives will be important to ensure effective risk hedging for farmers and FPOs. The overall impact will depend on how efficiently these reforms deepen market participation, improve risk mitigation and support sustainable, employment-led growth,” Raste said.
However, Mahindra Group’s Group CEO and MD Anish Shah said that Union Budget 2026 is a meaningful step towards self-reliance or ‘Aatma Nirbharta’ in manufacturing. “The emphasis on frontier and strategic manufacturing sectors, including the launch of enhanced schemes such as Biopharma Shakti and the Semiconductor Mission (ISM 2.0), reflects a clear commitment to building global-scale manufacturing capabilities. Strengthening domestic value chains and reducing critical import dependencies will be key to India’s future industrial leadership,” Shah said.