The Finance Ministry will start the process of preparing the Union Budget for the fiscal year 2026-27, starting October 9, 2025. This preparation comes
amid geopolitical tensions and a steep 50 per cent tariff imposed by the US on Indian shipments. The upcoming budget is likely to address key challenges such as stimulating demand, generating employment, and steering the economy toward a sustained growth rate above 8 per cent. The government projects the Indian economy to expand between 6.3 per cent and 6.8 per cent during the current financial year, signalling cautious optimism given the external headwinds. Guidelines And Deadlines For Budget Data Submission According to the Budget Circular issued by the Department of Economic Affairs, all financial advisers are instructed to ensure that the necessary details specified in Appendices I to VII are submitted by October 3, 2025, to enable smooth pre-budget discussions. Hard copies will also be required for verification, according to a PTI report. "Pre-budget meetings chaired by Secretary (Expenditure) shall commence from October 9, 2025," said the Budget Circular (2026-27) of the Department of Economic Affairs. The pre-budget meetings will shape the provisional Budget Estimates for 2026-27. These discussions will continue alongside the Revised Estimate (RE) meetings, which are expected to conclude by mid-November 2025, the report added. Ministries and departments are also required to submit detailed reports about autonomous bodies and implementing agencies, justifying their need for continued funding and explaining why such bodies should not be dissolved. "Financial advisers should ensure that the necessary details required in the appendices I to VII are properly entered...before or latest by October 3, 2025. Hard copies of the data in the specified formats should be submitted for cross-verification," the circular noted. "All the ministries/departments should submit details of autonomous bodies/ implementing agencies, for which a dedicated corpus fund has been created. The reasons for their continuance and requirement of grant-in-aid support, and why the same should not be wound up, should be explained," it added. Early Budget Presentation The Budget for 2026-27 is expected to be presented on February 1, 2026, continuing the practice introduced in 2017 when the Narendra Modi government moved the Budget presentation from the traditional end-February schedule to early February. For the current fiscal year, the government has projected a nominal GDP growth of 10.1 per cent, with the fiscal deficit targeted at 4.4 per cent of GDP.
