Climate adaptation policy must pair resilience measures with sustained financing and infrastructure investment to secure energy transition and urban sustainability.
The Survey calls for prioritising investment in extensive grid infrastructure and secure sourcing of critical minerals, while advancing R&D in battery storage, recycling, and sustainable disposal to enable large scale decarbonisation. It directs adaptation policy toward regionally tailored, multi faceted measures and the development of a National Adaptation Plan, proposes explicit Energy Conservation and Sustainable Building Code guidelines for urban vertical gardens, and endorses advanced thermal and nuclear technologies alongside behavioural initiatives under Mission LiFE to align energy security with low emission goals.

Federal funding reform: Karnataka seeks advance-release funding and increased central grants for infrastructure and social support.
Karnataka seeks release of recommended special grants and approvals for major projects, requests a shift from a reimbursement-based system to an advance-release model for centrally sponsored schemes, and seeks expanded central financing for land acquisition and construction of railway and road projects. The state also proposes increased honorariums for frontline workers, higher housing assistance under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, and transparent, needs-based reforms with timely release procedures for the State Disaster Response Fund.

Economic Survey outlines the government's assessment of the economy and medium-term prospects ahead of the Union Budget.
Economic Survey presented in the Lok Sabha is the annual evaluative report prepared by the Economic Division under the supervision of the chief economic adviser, issued immediately prior to the Union Budget to review recent economic performance and to provide an overview of short-to-medium-term prospects, institutionalised as a distinct pre-Budget document following its separation from budget materials in the 1960s.

Women's economic empowerment: budget measures to expand access to capital, procurement, and skilling for entrepreneurs.
Recommendations urge budget measures to promote women's economic empowerment through low interest credit lines, venture capital for women-led startups, and increased government procurement from women-owned businesses, alongside incentives for women's corporate leadership. Parallel priorities include prioritising large-scale infrastructure investment and PPPs, tax incentives for digitalisation and green technologies, and expanded funding for technical and vocational training-particularly for women-to enhance manufacturing competitiveness and workforce readiness.

Railway staff welfare demands urgent budget action to restore pensions, fill safety vacancies, and improve on-track protections.
Federations seek budgetary measures to strengthen staff welfare and rail safety: lift the ban on creation of new posts, urgently fill safety-category vacancies, expand training capacity, distribute GPS-enabled Rakshak devices, and implement Kavach network-wide. They also request restoration of the old pension scheme, payment of frozen dearness allowances and relief, expedited ex-gratia for pandemic casualties, revision of fixed medical allowance, tax exemption for transport allowance, and grant of risk and hardship allowance for signal and maintenance staff.

Ad-hoc judicial appointments permitted to address case backlog, enabling high courts to use temporary judges for relief.
Supreme Court reviewed high court directions requiring state officials to take possession of disputed churches and noted concern about orders authorising use of force in religious places. The Court authorised high courts to appoint ad-hoc judges as a limited mechanism to manage criminal case backlogs. A trial court dismissed revision pleas challenging cognisance orders in an alleged assault matter.

Women's financial inclusion: budgetary measures urged to fund women agents, financial literacy, and affordable collateral-free credit.
The budget is urged to deploy fiscal incentives to mobilise philanthropy, streamline credit and skill supports for social entrepreneurs, expand subsidised health insurance and pension contributions for elderly cohorts, and fund women's financial inclusion through women agent networks, financial literacy, and collateral-free credit guarantees.

Uniform Civil Code criticised as part of an alleged campaign of hatred; budget unlikely to ease economic distress.
The JK Congress president asserts the Uniform Civil Code and Waqf (Amendment) Bill are linked to a deliberate campaign of communal hatred aimed at isolating minorities and polarising society; he also expresses no confidence that the upcoming Union budget will remedy persistent economic problems, and advocates promoting Gandhian and Nehruvian principles to counter ideologies he describes as fostering division.

Economic governance: report warns a middle income trap will entrench inequality and weaken institutional accountability across the economy.
The document asserts that current policy trends risk a middle income trap, with inadequate GDP growth failing to generate employment and inclusive prosperity; it links stagnant incomes, weak consumption, manufacturing decline, agrarian distress and weakened welfare to tax and regulatory choices favouring large corporates, institutional interference, opacity in political funding, selective enforcement, and suppression or delay of key economic data that together impede evidence-based policy and accountability.

Tax incentives and fiscal realignment urged to spur investment, MSME growth, innovation, and sustainable economic transition.
Fiscal guidance advocates tightening the fiscal deficit while maintaining capital expenditure, targeted subsidy rationalisation, and possible income tax relief to revive consumption. Recommended tax-policy changes include favourable treatment of bank deposit interest, GST reductions, higher income tax slabs, and expanded R&D and startup tax incentives. Support for MSMEs and Make in India initiatives-especially defence manufacturing-includes targeted PLI provisions, export facilitation, technology adoption, and regionally focused scaling through clusters and incentives for digitalisation and green practices. Education, skills, advanced research, and sustainability incentives are urged to underpin long-term competitiveness.

Fiscal glide path underpins the upcoming budget, requiring growth support and prudent borrowing strategy while preserving deficit reduction commitments.
The budget must balance support for slowing economic growth and weak consumption with adherence to a fiscal glide path aimed at deficit reduction; operational priorities include targeted growth measures, privatisation and asset monetisation to bolster public finances, and financial sector reforms while accounting for exchange rate depreciation and constrained private investment.

Budget presentation protocol updated, altering timing and parliamentary approval calendar to enable fiscal year implementation from the outset.
Procedural changes to the Budget calendar and timing are detailed as operative regulatory features: the shift from late February evening presentations to mid day timings, and the formal repositioning of the Budget date to the first of February. These changes are explained in functional terms-altering the parliamentary approval window and enabling implementation from the start of the fiscal year-thereby affecting legislative scheduling and executive fiscal planning.

Union budget funding urged for infrastructure, employment and AI to scale state initiatives for women, farmers and youth.
A Member of Parliament urged the Union government to provide substantial budgetary support for infrastructure, employment generation and investment in Artificial Intelligence to help the state consolidate economic growth and serve as an innovation hub, and requested robust central backing to scale state initiatives for women, farmers and youth including financial empowerment, crop insurance and skill development programs.

Special fiscal relief demand: Kerala seeks central package and borrowing flexibility to alleviate strained finances.
Kerala seeks a special financial package to alleviate strained finances from low central transfers, requests reinstatement of GST compensation, an unconditional increase in the open market borrowing ceiling for 2025-26, and projects that stimulate household incomes. It demands grant-based Viability Gap Funding for Vizhinjam port, separate rehabilitation funding for Wayanad landslide victims, and targeted packages for railway development, human-animal conflict mitigation, non-resident welfare, coastal erosion, and climate change measures.

Central assistance release sought to unblock delayed national project inclusion and accelerate irrigation and groundwater recharge works.
Request for release of Central Assistance to overcome non-release-related delays hindering the Upper Bhadra Project. The state seeks disbursement of funds announced in the Union Budget to accelerate irrigation and groundwater recharge works. The project, already substantially funded by the State, has techno-economic clearance, investment clearance approval, HPSC recommendation for inclusion in the National Project Scheme, and PIB endorsement; the outstanding impediment identified is the non-release of the announced central assistance.

Union Budget measures to revive local economy by prioritising IT and tourism, plus education and mental health support.
Stakeholders propose Union Budget interventions to revive Kota's economy by promoting IT hub development and tourism, leveraging transport links and heritage assets, and by establishing an industrial corridor and Kota Stone Mart with tax-relief incentives. They also call for need-based scholarships, increased funding for higher education and research, preparatory centres, skill-based curricular programmes, measures for women's safety, reduced examination fees, and a national-level mental health and psychiatric-care institute to address the student suicide crisis.

Budget secrecy reinforced by lock-in protocol and paperless distribution of constitutionally prescribed budget documents digitally.
The halwa ceremony coincides with a supervised lock-in period in the North Block basement to maintain confidentiality of the final Annual Financial Statement and related constitutional documents until the Budget speech. The government has moved to a paperless distribution model: constitutionally prescribed budget documents, including the Annual Financial Statement, Demand for Grants and Finance Bill, are issued digitally through an authorised mobile application, a change that has shortened the operational lock-in and altered traditional printing logistics.

Tax incentives for the space sector urged to spur domestic manufacturing and R&D, including PLI and tax holidays.
The space industry seeks fiscal measures to boost private manufacturing and services, including a production-linked incentive scheme, tax holidays, import exemptions and lower GST to lower costs for start-ups and firms. It requests increased budgetary allocations and wider use of satellite data across ministries, export incentives, R&D subsidies, and creation of a Space Economy Task Force and a dedicated fund and framework for space cybersecurity and debris management to support advanced technologies and long-term sector growth.

Administrative reshuffle transfers revenue secretary to investment and public asset management, with finance secretary assuming revenue responsibilities.
A Finance Ministry personnel order reassigns the revenue secretary to lead investment and public asset management, appoints the incumbent investment head as revenue secretary and finance secretary, and directs that the reassigned officer will hold additional charge of two other secretary-level posts until regular appointments are made, effectuating senior civil service reassignments ahead of the Union Budget to ensure continuity and inter-ministerial coordination.

Income support measures urged to counter growth slowdown, including higher MGNREGA wages and GST simplification.
Downward revision of GDP growth and weakening indicators-slower private consumption, falling private investment, underspent public capex, reduced household savings and rising liabilities-are described as causing an investment chill. Recommended policy responses include targeted income support for poor households, higher MGNREGA wages, increased MSPs, accelerated public capital expenditure delivery, and drastic simplification of the GST regime alongside income tax relief for the middle class to restore consumption and investment.