Consumer and Internet

Madhur Singhal, Managing Partner and CEO – Consumer and Internet
“The Union Budget 2026 reinforces consumption as a long-term growth engine through large-scale investments in urban infrastructure, connectivity, and tourism. The introduction of City Economic Regions with allocations of nearly US$600M per region, alongside seven high-speed rail corridors, expanded freight networks, and tourism digitisation initiatives, will materially enhance market access and consumer demand. These measures are expected to drive sustained growth across retail, travel, e-commerce, and digital consumer platforms.”

Technology and Business Services (Tech, Cloud, AI)
Madhur Singhal, Managing Partner and CEO – Technology and Business Services
“Technology and business services receive strong structural support through regulatory certainty and long-term digital infrastructure investments. The extension of data centre tax holidays till 2047, safe harbour margins fixed at 15.5 percent with a significantly higher eligibility threshold, and explicit support for cloud, digital engineering, and AI-led services improve certainty for global enterprises operating from India. Combined with semiconductor and electronics manufacturing investments exceeding US$5B, these measures will accelerate enterprise technology adoption and AI deployment.”

Private Capital
Madhur Singhal, Managing Partner and CEO – Private Capital
“The Budget significantly enhances India’s attractiveness for long-term private capital by combining infrastructure scale with regulatory predictability. Public capital expenditure has been raised to nearly US$150B, supported by an Infrastructure Risk Guarantee Fund and accelerated CPSE asset monetisation through REITs. Alongside deeper municipal bond markets and foreign investment liberalisation, these measures create scalable opportunities across infrastructure, real assets, and growth equity.”

Healthcare and Lifesciences
Aryaman Tandon, Managing Partner – Healthcare and Lifesciences
“Healthcare and lifesciences emerge as a strategic priority with targeted investments across manufacturing, skills, and access. The launch of Biopharma SHAKTI with an outlay of over US$1.2B, expansion of pharmaceutical education infrastructure, creation of regional medical tourism hubs, and customs duty exemption on 17 critical cancer drugs will strengthen India’s healthcare ecosystem while improving affordability and global competitiveness.”

Education and Employability
Dr Vishakha Gandhi, Associate Vice President – Education and Employability
“The Budget makes a decisive shift from access to outcomes by linking education directly with employability. Initiatives such as five university townships, large-scale AVGC skilling, and training of over 250,000 professionals across allied health, caregiving, and veterinary services reflect a future-ready workforce strategy. These measures align education systems with the evolving needs of the services, healthcare, and digital economy.”

Financial Services
Sandeep Ghosh, Practice Leader – Financial Services
“The Budget strengthens the financial system by improving credit flow, market depth, and capital formation. Measures such as the proposed High-Level Committee on Banking, restructuring of public sector NBFCs, incentives for municipal bond issuances above US$120M, and expansion of MSME financing platforms will enhance liquidity and investor confidence, supporting sustained economic growth.”

Government, Public, and Social
Sandeep Ghosh, Practice Leader – Government, Public, and Social
“Inclusive development remains central to the Budget through focused investments in women-led enterprises, regional infrastructure, health, and digital public services. Initiatives such as SHE-Marts, AI-enabled agricultural advisory platforms, expanded mental health infrastructure, and targeted development of eastern and north-eastern regions reinforce a people-first approach focused on delivery, resilience, and long-term outcomes.”

Next-Generation Industrials
Ram Soni, Partner – Next Gen Industrials
“The Budget lays a strong foundation for next-generation industrial growth through investments in advanced manufacturing, capital goods, and critical materials. Support for rare earth processing corridors, chemical parks, revival of legacy industrial clusters, and container manufacturing with allocations exceeding US$1.2B will strengthen domestic capabilities and enhance India’s competitiveness in high-value manufacturing.”

Mobility, Energy, and Transportation
Ram Soni, Partner – Mobility, Energy, and Transportation
“Mobility and energy transition receive a coordinated push through investments across rail, waterways, and clean technologies. The development of 20 national waterways, new freight corridors, seven high-speed rail links, and over US$2.4B allocated for carbon capture technologies signal a decisive move towards sustainable transportation, logistics efficiency, and long-term energy security.”

Food and Agriculture
Akshat Gupta, Practice Leader – Food and Agriculture
“The Budget adopts a value-chain-led approach to agriculture by focusing on fisheries, animal husbandry, and high-value crops. Integrated development of 500 reservoirs, targeted support for coconut, cocoa, cashew, and sandalwood cultivation, and the launch of AI-enabled advisory platforms will improve productivity, resilience, and farmer incomes while strengthening India’s agri-processing ecosystem.”