Budget 2026: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented her ninth consecutive Union Budget in the Lok Sabha on Sunday, February 1. With this, she has become the longest-serving finance minister to hold the post continuously. During her Budget 2026, the Finance Minister announced that the central government has exempted customs duty on life-saving drugs. The central government has given a major healthcare relief to people by exempting basic customs duty on as many as 17 cancer drugs. The prime aim of the policy is to lower treatment costs of medicines of life-threatening cancers. Several high-cost drugs are still imported from other countries. By exempting basic customs duty on these drugs, Centre hopes to make costly treatments more affordable for patients lacking comprehensive insurance cover.
Drugs Are Now Duty-Free?
| S. No. | Cancer Drugs Exempted from Basic Customs Duty |
|---|---|
| 1 | Ribociclib |
| 2 | Abemaciclib |
| 3 | Talycabtagene autoleucel |
| 4 | Tremelimumab |
| 5 | Venetoclax |
| 6 | Ceritinib |
| 7 | Brigatinib |
| 8 | Darolutamide |
| 9 | Toripalimab |
| 10 | Serplulimab |
| 11 | Tislelizumab |
| 12 | Inotuzumab ozogamicin |
| 13 | Ponatinib |
| 14 | Ibrutinib |
| 15 | Dabrafenib |
| 16 | Trametinib |
| 17 | Ipilimumab |
She further announced that people with ITR1 and ITR2 can file their forms till July 31. “Non-audit business cases and trusts will be allowed to file returns till August 31,” she said.
The FM also stated that the central government will launch the Mahatma Gandhi Khadi Swaraj Scheme for handicrafts. She also stated that as many as 200 industrial corridors are to be revived.
The FM has placed the spotlight on India’s textile sector and announced the central government will create mega textile parks to drive manufacturing growth and employment. The initiative focuses on strengthening khadi, handlooms and handicrafts by boosting production capacity and building world market linkages.
After the presentation of the Budget 2026 in the Lower House, a copy of the Budget will be tabled in the Upper House. After receiving significant relief in 2025 middle-class and salaried taxpayers are hoping for more income tax cuts in Budget 2026.
Also Read: Union Budget 2026 Income Tax big announcement: Update on ITR Dates
Union Budget 2026: Top Highlights From FM Sitharaman’s Speech
- During her Budget 2026 speech, the FM proposed interventions in six key sectors, including ramping up manufacturing in seven strategic and frontier sectors, reviving industrial sectors, motivating and creating champion MSMEs, giving a major push to infrastructure, ensuring long-term security and stability and promoting the development of city-based economic regions.
- The Mahatma Gandhi Gram Swaraj scheme was proposed in order to strengthen the Khadi handloom. “I propose to set up mega textile parks in challenge mode. I propose to launch the Mahatma Gandhi Gram Swaraj initiative to strengthen Khadi and handloom,” FM said.
- FM Sitharaman, during her budget scheme, proposed a National Fibre Scheme for self-sufficiency in space.
- Sitharaman proposed adding Rs 4,000 crore to Self Reliant India Fund in FY27 in order to support MSMEs.
- The centre will continue developing infrastructure in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. It is also planning to establish a high-level banking committee for Viksit Bharat. This will align the sector with India’s next phase of growth.
- Sitharaman proposed seven high-speed corridors between major cities, terming them as growth connectors. The corridors will be made between Mumbai-Pune, Pune-Hyderabad, Hyderabad-Bangalore, Hyderabad-Chennai, Chennai-Bangalore, Delhi-Varanasi and Varanasi-Siliguri.
- 25 crore citizens have come out of multi-dimensional poverty
- Centre proposes three new All India Institutes of Ayurveda.
- The FM proposed a Rs 20,000 crore outlay over the next five years for Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) technologies. This will support scaling up and wider end-use adoption.
- She also announced the upgrading of AYUSH pharmacies and drug testing laboratories.
- She also proposed support to 5 university townships in major industrial logistics centres.
- The central government is planning to upgrade the skills of 10,000 guides at 20 major tourist sites. FM proposed to develop ecologically sustainable trails in hilly states such as Himachal Pradesh, Utttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir.
- Centre has proposed setting up girls’ hostel in every district.
- Centre has proposed setting up Self-Help Entrepreneur (SHE) Marts in order to support women entrepreneurship.
- To improve access to mental healthcare in North India, FM proposed the setting up of NIMHANS-2. She has also proposed to upgrade institutes in Ranchi and Tezpur.
- Public capital expenditure has been raised to Rs 12.2 lakh crore for the financial year 2026–27, up from Rs 11.2 lakh crore this year. This will help in infrastructure development.
- Exemption of customs duty on 17 drugs and medicines.
Centre Proposed Khelo India Mission To Transform The Sports Sector:
• Integrated talent development pathway.
• Development of coaches and support staff so that athletes will get better coaching.
• Encourage competitions and leagues for healthy competition.
In the Union Budget 2025, the central government gave significant benefits to taxpayers by cutting income tax on earnings up to Rs 12 lakh per year. For salaried taxpayers, this went up to Rs 12.75 lakh after the standard deduction of Rs 75,000. Income tax has always been a centre point of the budget announcement where the middle class, specially salaried people, expect benefits from the central government to reduce their taxes.
(Note: This is a developing story and further details will be added.)
