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With the global economy facing persistent uncertainty, India Inc. is pinning its hopes on the Union Budget 2026-27 to boost jobs, maintain a strong public investment push and stick to the fiscal consolidation path, a pre-Budget survey by FICCI shows, according to a pre-Budget survey by FICCI.
The survey, conducted between end-December 2025 and mid-January 2026 among nearly 100 companies across sectors, shows that 80 per cent of respondents are optimistic about India’s economic prospects ahead of the forthcoming budget.
Around half of the participants expect GDP growth in the range of 7–8 per cent in FY27, underscoring confidence in India’s relative outperformance despite a fragile and uneven global economic environment.
At the same time, industry has underlined the importance of macroeconomic stability. About 42 per cent of respondents expect the government to meet its fiscal deficit target of 4.4 per cent in FY26, reflecting broad support for sticking to the fiscal consolidation roadmap even as growth-supportive measures are rolled out.
Job creation emerged as the single biggest priority, with 71 per cent of respondents identifying employment generation as a key expectation from the Union Budget. This was closely followed by a strong call for continued public capital expenditure, cited by around 61 per cent of participants as critical to sustaining growth, crowding in private investment, and supporting demand.
On sectoral priorities, industry expects the budget to focus sharply on infrastructure, manufacturing—particularly Industry 4.0—and defence, aligning with the government’s push to strengthen domestic capabilities and strategic sectors. More than half of the respondents also flagged the need for stronger support for exports, as global trade remains under pressure from geopolitical tensions and fragmentation.
In terms of policy thrust, respondents emphasised reducing regulatory compliances, promoting research and development, and encouraging futuristic digital technologies to boost productivity and competitiveness.
To improve export performance and integration into global value chains, industry called for streamlined trade facilitation and customs processes, reduction in logistics and port-related bottlenecks, and more efficient export incentive and refund mechanisms.
Tax-related expectations centered on simplifying compliance through digitisation, ensuring greater tax certainty, improving dispute resolution and litigation management, and facilitating corporate restructuring and investment.
On the customs front, the survey highlighted the need for simplification of regulations, continued duty rationalisation, enhanced digitisation and faster adjudication to reduce transaction costs for businesses.
The survey, conducted between end-December 2025 and mid-January 2026 among nearly 100 companies across sectors, shows that 80 per cent of respondents are optimistic about India’s economic prospects ahead of the forthcoming budget.
Around half of the participants expect GDP growth in the range of 7–8 per cent in FY27, underscoring confidence in India’s relative outperformance despite a fragile and uneven global economic environment.
At the same time, industry has underlined the importance of macroeconomic stability. About 42 per cent of respondents expect the government to meet its fiscal deficit target of 4.4 per cent in FY26, reflecting broad support for sticking to the fiscal consolidation roadmap even as growth-supportive measures are rolled out.
Job creation emerged as the single biggest priority, with 71 per cent of respondents identifying employment generation as a key expectation from the Union Budget. This was closely followed by a strong call for continued public capital expenditure, cited by around 61 per cent of participants as critical to sustaining growth, crowding in private investment, and supporting demand.
On sectoral priorities, industry expects the budget to focus sharply on infrastructure, manufacturing—particularly Industry 4.0—and defence, aligning with the government’s push to strengthen domestic capabilities and strategic sectors. More than half of the respondents also flagged the need for stronger support for exports, as global trade remains under pressure from geopolitical tensions and fragmentation.
In terms of policy thrust, respondents emphasised reducing regulatory compliances, promoting research and development, and encouraging futuristic digital technologies to boost productivity and competitiveness.
To improve export performance and integration into global value chains, industry called for streamlined trade facilitation and customs processes, reduction in logistics and port-related bottlenecks, and more efficient export incentive and refund mechanisms.
Tax-related expectations centered on simplifying compliance through digitisation, ensuring greater tax certainty, improving dispute resolution and litigation management, and facilitating corporate restructuring and investment.
On the customs front, the survey highlighted the need for simplification of regulations, continued duty rationalisation, enhanced digitisation and faster adjudication to reduce transaction costs for businesses.
