SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth | SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure | SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities | SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals
Ministry of Finance | NITI Aayog | Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
On February 1, 2026, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2026-27, the first budget prepared in Kartavya Bhawan. Inspired by the Viksit Bharat Young Leaders Dialogue 2026, the budget proposes three core “Kartavyas” (duties) to accelerate India’s economic trajectory toward a developed nation by 2047. The agenda focuses on balancing high ambition with social inclusion, building on a decade of structural reforms that have sustained a growth rate of approximately 7%.
The Three Kartavyas for Prosperity The budget operationalizes its vision through three distinct strategic pillars:
Kartavya 1: Sustainable Economic Growth: Accelerating productivity and competitiveness while building resilience to global dynamics. Interventions cover six areas, including scaling up manufacturing in seven strategic sectors, creating “Champion MSMEs,” and developing City Economic Regions.
Kartavya 2: Capacity Building: Fulfilling the aspirations of a youthful population through a renewed emphasis on the Services Sector. A high-powered “Education to Employment and Enterprise” (EEE) Standing Committee will be established to optimize growth and exports in services, targeting a 10% global share by 2047.
Kartavya 3: Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas: Ensuring equitable access to resources for all families and regions. This includes productivity enhancement for small farmers, livelihood opportunities for Divyangjan, and a focused development push for the Purvodaya States and the North-East Region.
A Supportive Ecosystem for Governance To fulfill these duties, the government is focusing on a robust structural ecosystem. This includes sustaining adaptive reforms (over 350 rolled out since 2025), maintaining a resilient financial sector for efficient capital allocation, and leveraging cutting-edge technologies like AI as force multipliers for better governance. The budget continues the “Reform Express” through GST simplification, labor code notification, and extensive deregulation in partnership with state governments.
Policy Relevance
The 2026-27 Budget marks a transition from administrative reform to a “mission-mode” developmental state.
Strategic Autonomy and Resilience: By focusing on seven frontier manufacturing sectors and energy security, the policy aims to decouple India from volatile global supply chains while remaining deeply integrated with international markets.
Services as a Growth Engine: The 10% global services share target by 2047 signals a strategic pivot to leverage India’s digital and human capital as a core driver of long-term export competitiveness.
State-Level Deregulation: The collaborative work with State Governments to reduce compliance requirements highlights a shift toward “Competitive Sub-Nationalism,” where ease of doing business is standardized across the country.
Technology for Governance: The explicit mention of AI as a “force multiplier” indicates that the government intends to utilize advanced diagnostics and automation to improve the delivery of universal services and household purchasing power.
Relevant Question for Policy Stakeholders: How can the newly formed “Education to Employment and Enterprise” Standing Committee collaborate with the MSME sector to ensure that the 10% global services target includes a substantial contribution from small-scale digital service providers?
Follow the full news here: UNION BUDGET 2026-27 FOCUSES ON 3 KARTAVYAS