Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday presented the Union Budget 2026, with key reforms along with some measures intended to provide relief to the common man.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman displays the digital tablet encased in a traditional red ‘bahi-khata’ style pouch on the Parliament premises ahead of the presentation of the Union Budget 2026-27 (PTI).Sitharaman’s 81-minute-long budget speech did not see any changes in income tax slabs but included major announcements. That focuses on the three “Duties” or duties of the central government – accelerating and sustaining economic growth; Fulfilling people’s aspirations; and the vision of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’.
The reforms focus on students, farmers, women, healthcare workers, investors and taxpayers which will benefit the common man.
Budget 2026: Common man in focusAbout the farmersNirmala Sitharaman proposed a coconut promotion scheme to increase production and improve productivity to increase India’s competitiveness in coconut farming. He announced a dedicated program for Indian cashews and cocoa, aimed at making India self-reliant in raw cashew and coconut production and processing, as well as enhancing export competitiveness. These schemes are mostly aimed at farmers in South India, two of whose states (Tamil Nadu and Kerala) will go to the polls a little later this year.
Income tax payersIndividual taxpayers have not received any relief in terms of changes in income tax slabs, but will get more relaxation in filing their IT returns. Nirmala Sitharaman proposed to extend the deadline for filing revised ITR from the current 31 December to 31 March. The updated ITR filing also got a revamp in Budget 2026.
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“As an additional measure to reduce litigation, I propose taxpayers to update their returns even after initiation of reassessment proceedings, at an additional 10% tax rate over and above the rate applicable for the relevant year. The assessing officer will use only these updated returns in his proceedings,” the finance minister said in his speech.
Medicines are available cheaplyIn her Union Budget 2026 speech, Nirmala Sitharaman Unveiling measures to reduce the cost of treatment of cancer patients Withdrawal of basic duty on 17 medicines. He also announced that import duty exemptions for drugs, medicines and specialized medical foods for the treatment of seven additional rare diseases will be extended.
There are also tax relief measures aimed at reducing the financial burden on patients, especially those undergoing cancer treatment, while expanding duty-free private imports of drugs and food for specialized treatments used to treat rare diseases.
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Growth on STT futures and optionsNirmala Sitharaman proposed the increase Securities Transaction Tax (STT) on Derivatives To prevent excessive speculation in the F&O segment.
He announced that STT on futures contracts will be reduced from 0.02% to 0.05%. “Both STT on option premium and exercise of options are proposed to be 0.15% from the current rate of 0.1% and 0.125% respectively.”
Arrangements for studentsThe finance minister proposed to reduce the tax collection rate (TCS) at source to 2% for education purposes under the Liberalized Remittance Scheme (LRS), as well as for sale of foreign tour packages.
The government will also set up a ‘Education to Employment and Entrepreneurship’ standing committee to recommend measures that focus on the growth of the services sector, the FM announced.
As part of the education push, FM has proposed setting up a new National Institute of Design in eastern India as well as setting up five university townships near major industrial and logistics corridors. Sitharaman proposed building a girls’ hostel in every district of the country and setting up community-owned ‘Se Martis’.
Banking ReformsBudget 2026 proposes a high-level committee to review the banking sector. Public sector NBFCs like PFC and REC will be restructured to improve efficiency.
