Three of the seven high-speed rail corridors announced in the Union Budget 2026-27, connect Hyderabad. They are Hyderabad-Bengaluru, Hyderabad-Chennai and Pune-Hyderabad. The remaining four are  Mumbai-Pune, Chennai-Bengaluru, Delhi-Varanasi and Varanasi-Siliguri.

Also read: Union Budget 2026 LIVE updates

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, during presentation of the Budget on Sunday (February 1, 2026), said that the corridors will be developed to promote environmentally sustainable passenger systems

Proposed high-speed rail corridors connect Hyderabad with three cities
| Photo Credit:
THE HINDU GRAPHICS

The Indian banking sector is heading for a major change with the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposing to set up a ‘High Level Committee on Banking for Viksit Bharat’ to enable this sector lend differently. 

She said the committee will comprehensively review the financial sector and align it with India’s next phase of growth, “while safeguarding financial stability, inclusion and consumer protection.” 

“Indian banking sector today is characterised by strong balance sheets, historic highs in profitability, improved asset quality and coverage exceeding 98% of villages in the country,” she said while presenting the Union Budget 2026-27 in the Parliament. 

“High Level Committee to reform banks to suit, “Viksit” Bharat is a clear call to privatisation of public sector banks. Private banks work for profit and not priority-sector lending, rural credit access, and financial inclusion areas where public banks historically play a stabilising role,” said Amarjeet Kaur, General Secretary, All India Trade Union Congress said in a statement.

“The Finance Minister mentioned about rural branches in 98% villages, but does not recognise that this was possible because of Nationalised Banking,” she added.

Also keeping the future requirement in mind the budget has proposed to restructure the Power Finance Corporation (PFC) and Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) to achieve scale and improve efficiency in the Public Sector NBFCs.

Abhishek Nath, Sector Head for Energy and Power at the think-tank CSTEP, said the move would help NBFCs align with present requirements. “Today, we have to look at various technologies, including RE and nuclear generation, as well as transmission and storage,” he stated, adding, “Although both institutions are mainly finance organisations and have been flexible enough to survive and prosper, a relook at their basic structure is in keeping with the evolving needs of the present time,” he said.

The budget proposal has outlined the vision for NBFCs for developed India with clear targets for credit disbursement and technology adoption.

The FM also proposed a comprehensive review of the Foreign Exchange Management (Non-debt Instruments) Rules in the Union Budget to create a more contemporary, user-friendly framework for foreign investments consistent with India’s evolving economic priorities.

The Budget has proposed measures to allow individuals present outside India to invest in equity instruments of listed Indian companies through the portfolio investment scheme. 

The Sixteenth Finance Commission (16th FC) has recommended that the Central Government retain the 41% share of tax devolution to the States that had been implemented since 2021. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her Budget 2026 speech on Sunday (February 1, 2026), announced that the Centre has accepted the 16th FC’s recommendations.

“The Government has accepted the recommendation of the Commission to retain the vertical share of devolution at 41%,” Ms. Sitharaman said. “As recommended by the Commission, I have provided ₹1.4 lakh crore to the States for the FY 2026-27 as Finance Commission Grants. These include Rural and Urban Local Body and Disaster Management Grants.”

The Union Government is preparing to launch two new schemes for persons with disabilities, aimed at training them for “dignified livelihood opportunities” and providing them with “timely access” to assistive devices by setting up “modern retail-style” Assistive Technology Marts across the country.

Even as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the two new schemes — the Divyangjan Kaushal Yojana and Divyang Sahara Yojana — as part of the government’s push for empowering persons with disabilities, rights organisation National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled (NPRD) has said the Budget “continues the exclusionary trajectory of the Modi government in its third term”, saying that it “violates disability rights and entrenches inequality”.

Union Budget 2026 has several proposals to boost coastal shipping and kickstart inland shipping that has largely been a non-starter especially in cargo carrying. It also promises ₹10,000 crore to support the making of containers in India.

After COVID period during which the government realised the value of having Indian tonnage that it can leverage for national needs, the government has announced several proposals to rejuvenate indigenous shipping. In September 2025, the Union Cabinet approved a ₹69,725 crore comprehensive package that included major investment plans so State-owned Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) could buy a range of ocean-going merchant ships. The budget has allocated more than ₹1,700 crore for 2026-27 as part of this package.

In today’s speech, the Finance Minister spoke about the government’s aim to develop inland and coastal shipping so that its share in total cargo carried through road, rail and water increases from 6% to 12%. This would not only help to decongest roads and the rail system, but, being a potentially cheaper mode, inland waterways can facilitate market access for farmers and small businesses. A major push by the government is needed to overcome the current cost and time disadvantages of inland waterways, observers say.

In a major tax relief, the presumptive tonnage tax scheme will apply to inland and coastal ship companies rather than the generic income-based tax. Tonnage tax is the global standard and is typically at 5% on a presumptive income for a given tonnage. Further, centres to train youth in inland ship repair are targeted to come up in the hinterland in Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) and Patna (Bihar).

The Budget has proposed to establish new Dedicated Freight Corridors connecting Dakuni in the east to Surat in the west and operationalise 20 new national waterways (NW) over the next five years starting with the Brahmani-Mahanadhi NW 5. This national waterway can connect mining centres in Talcher to industrial centres and feed Paradeep and Dhamra ports. “Mahanadhi has rich potential for development and cargo carrying. But it needs sustained investment such as in periodic dredging to make this project work,” said Amitabh Kumar, former director general of shipping.

The proposal on container shipping aims to create a globally competitive container manufacturing ecosystem with a budgetary allocation of ₹10,000 crore over a five-year period.

In the past, it was considerably cheaper to import new, empty containers from China than make them in India. There were no BIS standards for the specialised steel needed to make seaworthy containers that Indian steelmakers could use to manufacture the steel. Importing steel added to the costs. Also, quality guarantees could not be ensured. “Now, BIS standards are in place on a par with global and Chinese standards and more institutions have been certified to ensure high quality of containers made in India,” adds Mr. Kumar.

Container makers would like a combination of support measures: in land acquisition, through capex subsidy and a PLI scheme. “The aim should be to ensure that when scaled up, the cost of production of containers comes down to global levels,” says N. Bhanu Prakash, faculty at the Indian Maritime University, Visakhapatnam campus. He adds that mandating the use of Indian-made containers can also be considered.

Opposition parties on Sunday (February 1, 2026) described the Union Budget 2026 as “anti-poor” and “detached” from the country’s economic realities. Left leaders said it offered no relief to workers, farmers or the unemployed while continuing to prioritise big corporate interests. Trinamool Congress National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee said the Finance Minister failed to mention West Bengal even once.

Calling the Budget “faceless, baseless and visionless”, Mr. Banerjee said the Finance Minister, in her 85-minute speech, did not speak about West Bengal even once.

Union Budget 2026 LIVE updates

“Centre views Bengal as Bangladesh… Otherwise why was Bengal not mentioned even once?…We had no expectations with this Budget. They knew that even if they spent money in Bengal, they wouldn’t win. So, from their perspective if you see they have preferred not to spend any money on Bengal,” he said. West Bengal goes to the polls in March-April this year.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary M.A. Baby said the Budget “exposes the blind commitment” of the Modi-led government to a handful of corporate houses. Mr. Baby said cuts in fertiliser, food, and petroleum subsidies amounted to a “naked assault” on workers and peasants, and warned that transfers to States had fallen “by lakhs of crores”, undermining fiscal federalism. The Budget, he argued, would deepen inequality and worsen the ongoing economic crisis.

Echoing similar criticism, CPI general secretary D. Raja said the Budget was “detached from the concerns of the masses” and marked by “deliberate vagueness.” He said the Finance Minister had avoided giving scheme-wise allocations, calling it an attempt to obscure funding cuts. Mr. Raja said the government had failed to stimulate demand despite the Economic Survey’s emphasis on domestic consumption. On agriculture and employment, he said the government had ignored demands for a legal MSP and continued to push anti-labour policies.

All India Forward Bloc general secretary G. Devarajan described the Budget as a “betrayal of the people, workers and the federal spirit”, saying it failed to address basic issues such as inflation and unemployment. He also criticised the government for cutting subsidies in critical sectors.

The CPI(ML) Polit Bureau said in a statement that the slogan “viksit Bharat” rings hollow as subsidies for food and fertilisers have been cut. It also underlined the push for private-led healthcare and education, and the focus on corporate-friendly projects.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, during her Budget speech, announced seven high-speed rail corridors, which will connect five South Indian states among others, and will be developed at a total cost of ₹16 lakh crore.

Calling them “growth connectors”, the FM said the corridors will link Mumbai- Pune, Pune-Hyderabad, Hyderabad-Bengaluru, Hyderabad-Chennai, Chennai-Bengaluru, Delhi-Varanasi, and Varanasi-Siliguri.

Read: Union Budget 2026 LIVE updates

The corridors will reduce travel time between Chennai to Bengaluru to 1.5 hours, Bengaluru to Hyderabad to 2 hours, Hyderabad to Chennai to 2 hours and 55 minutes. The travel duration between Pune and Hyderabad will reduce to 1 hour 55 minutes; and between Pune to Mumbai it will reduce to 45 minutes.

At a press conference, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw explained that with five South Indian States interlinked, the announcement will serve as a growth multiplier for them.

The Delhi-Varanasi corridor will bring down travel time to 3 hour 50 minutes. Varanasi to Siliguri via Patna will be covered in 2 hour 55 minutes.

These corridors will be of 4000 km in length, and be developed at an outlay of ₹16 lakh crore.

The FM also announced a new dedicated freight corridor connecting Dankuni in West Bengal to Surat in Gujarat.

WATCH | Seven high-speed rail corridors to promote environment friendly transport: FM

A total outlay of ₹2,78,030 crore has been set aside for the Ministry of Railways in the Union Budget 2026-27 as compared to ₹2,55,466 lakh in the revised estimate of Financial Year 2025-2026, indicating a hike of 10.8%. The total capital expenditure for railways is at ₹2,93,030 crore.

Rail Minister said a sum of ₹1,20,000 crore has been earmarked on safety related measures such as track maintenance, locomotives, coaches as rapid installation of Kavach ( indigenously developed Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system) and overhead electricals.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has been granted a total capital expenditure of ₹3.09 lakh crore for financial year 2026-27 as compared to ₹2.87 lakh in the revised estimate of the current fiscal, a hike of 10.7%.

Allocation to state-owned National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has been increased to ₹1.87 lakh crore from last year’s ₹1.70 lakh crore.