Following the tabling of the Union Budget 2026-27 by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, CA Abhay Bhutada, Entrepreneur, Philanthropist, & Chairman of the Abhay Bhutada Foundation and TAB Global Ventures, shared his views on the budget’s priorities. Prepared in Kartavya Bhawan, the budget is anchored around three core Kartavyas: accelerating and sustaining economic growth, building the capacity and aspirations of people, and ensuring inclusive access to opportunities in line with the vision of Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas. Banking, NBFC Reforms and Tax Simplification Bhutada highlighted the proposal to set up a High-Level Committee on Banking for Viksit Bharat as a timely reform to review the sector’s readiness for the next phase of growth. He also pointed to the restructuring of Power Finance Corporation and Rural Electrification Corporation as a move to improve scale, efficiency and long-term infrastructure financing in public sector NBFCs. “As credit demand expands, aligning stability, inclusion and consumer protection will be critical for sustaining confidence in the financial system,” CA Abhay Bhutada said. On taxation, Bhutada said the new Income Tax Act, effective April 2026, along with simplified TDS and TCS provisions and extended timelines for return revisions, could materially reduce compliance friction and litigation, improving ease of doing business. Support for MSMEs and Capital Access Bhutada, a Chartered Accountant, said the creation of a ₹10,000 crore SME Growth Fund is a targeted step towards building “Champion SMEs” by providing growth-stage risk capital linked to defined performance criteria. He also highlighted the additional ₹2,000 crore allocation to the Self-Reliant India Fund, which reinforces continued access to risk capital for micro enterprises. He noted that the involvement of professional bodies such as ICAI, ICSI and ICMAI in developing short-term, practical programmes for “Corporate Mitras”, particularly in Tier II and Tier III towns, could strengthen financial discipline, compliance readiness and governance among small businesses. Technology, Data Centres, and Global Investment On the technology front, Abhay Bhutada said the budget sends a clear signal to position India as a global data and digital services hub. Tax holidays for foreign cloud service providers using Indian data centres, along with rationalised safe harbour norms and automated approvals for IT services, provide greater certainty for long-term investment and exports. He concluded that Budget 2026-27 offers a coherent financial and technology framework, and that disciplined execution of regulatory and capital allocation reforms will be critical to achieving sustainable growth under the Viksit Bharat vision. (Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with NRDPL and PTI takes no editorial responsibility for the same.). PTI

Union Budget 2026 advances tax simplification, NBFC reform, an SME Growth Fund and incentives for data centre investment. The budget implements a New Income Tax Act effective April 2026 with simplified TDS/TCS and extended return revision timelines to reduce compliance friction and litigation, proposes a High Level Committee on Banking and the restructuring of public sector NBFCs to improve scale and long term infrastructure financing, and establishes a ?10,000 crore SME Growth Fund alongside additional allocations to support microenterprise capital and professional led Corporate Mitras; it also offers tax holidays for foreign cloud providers using Indian data centres and rationalises safe harbour norms with automated IT approvals.