Honourable Speaker,
I rise today with humility born of long years in public life and with a resolve shaped by the many budgets I have witnessed, questioned, critiqued, and—at times—dreamed of rewriting.
Before I present the People’s Budget for 2026–27, allow me a moment of reflection, for budgets are not merely fiscal documents; they are the autobiography of a nation written one year at a time.
My own education in India’s economic journey began decades ago, when the first finance minister I met as a young editor was R. Venkataraman—a man whose calm authority reflected the certainties of a state-led era.
With Pranab Mukherjee, I learned how fiscal caution coexisted with political pragmatism. V. P. Singh, in our one-on-one conversations, spoke with moral urgency about widening the tax base and confronting corruption. N. D. Tiwari, earnest and sincere, believed deeply in the state’s capacity to deliver prosperity, even as the old model was fraying.
Later, in Geneva, at the South Commission, I worked closely with Manmohan Singh—then still a developmental economist steeped in the vocabulary of dirigisme. I did not witness firsthand the transformation that would make him the architect of 1991, but I saw the intellectual discipline and moral seriousness that made that transformation possible.
My relationship with Arun Jaitley was more personal. We were friends from the PUCL days, when defending civil liberties was not a slogan but a shared responsibility. During the formation of the PUCL Bulletin, we would set aside Saturday afternoons for long, searching conversations—about governance, constitutionalism, and the responsibilities of power. When he later became finance minister, I could see echoes of those early dialogues in his budgets.
As for Nirmala Sitharaman, she joined the same economics centre at JNU where I had studied a couple of years earlier. Our paths did not cross deeply then; my more sustained conversations were with Prabhakar Parakala — not in a way that shaped my thinking directly, but in the organic way that long, youthful debates leave their imprint.
These encounters taught me a simple truth: every finance minister, regardless of ideology, ultimately grapples with the same three questions—who pays, who benefits, and who is heard.
Today, as Shadow Finance Minister, I rise to answer those questions anew—on behalf of the people.
Honourable Speaker,
India stands today at a crossroads familiar yet profoundly new. The world around us is fractured—by geopolitical tensions, climate upheavals, and economic uncertainty. And yet, India stands as a beacon of stability and ambition. Our economy has grown at 7.4% this year. But resilience is not destiny. Resilience is what keeps a nation standing; imagination is what helps it rise.
This People’s Budget charts a path to 8% sustained growth, powered not by slogans but by human capital, innovation, and inclusive development. Our guiding philosophy is a Developed India by 2047—a developed India where opportunity is universal, growth is equitable, and progress is unstoppable. We draw from ancient wisdom—Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah—and blend it with the imperatives of sustainability and digital transformation.
We project nominal GDP at ₹350 lakh crore for FY27, driven by private investment, export dynamism, and domestic consumption. But numbers alone do not build nations. Vision does. Courage does. And above all, people do.
On the fiscal front, we maintain ambition with discipline. The fiscal deficit is targeted at 4.2% of GDP, down from 4.3%. Debt-to-GDP will fall to 54.8%, on track for 50% by 2031. Total receipts stand at ₹41 lakh crore, with net tax revenues of ₹30 lakh crore. Total expenditure is ₹55 lakh crore, and capital outlay rises to ₹13 lakh crore—3.7% of GDP. This is not expenditure; this is investment in India’s future.
But Honourable Speaker, growth without equity is a skyscraper built on sand.
This Budget places human development at its core.
We allocate ₹2 lakh crore to education—a 44% increase. We launch the National Education Excellence Mission. We establish 20 new IIT/IIM-model institutes. We add 50,000 new STEM and management seats annually. And through Kaushal Bharat 2.0, we will reskill one crore workers in AI, quantum, green energy, and biotechnology. Each trainee will receive a ₹5,000 monthly stipend—because dignity is not a subsidy; it is a right.
Health receives ₹1.5 lakh crore, also up 44%. Ayushman Bharat expands to 50 crore citizens. District-level AI telemedicine hubs will bridge the urban-rural divide. We invest ₹20,000 crore in biotech research parks—because the next vaccine, the next breakthrough, the next leap in human longevity may well be born in India.
Honourable Speaker,
Rural India is not a sector. It is the soul of this nation.
We allocate ₹3.5 lakh crore to rural development—a 28% increase. The Gram Vikas Accelerator will bring precision agriculture, solar irrigation, and value-chain integration to the heart of Bharat. Organic farming subsidies will double. Climate-linked crop insurance will protect 10 crore farmers. Fisheries and animal husbandry will receive ₹50,000 crore, creating 2 crore jobs.
Local governance receives ₹1 lakh crore. Panchayati Raj institutions will be empowered, not bypassed. Through Swavalambi Gram, 50,000 villages will receive solar micro-grids, e-governance tools, and skill centres.
A nation is only as strong as its smallest village.
Infrastructure remains our growth engine. We invest ₹13 lakh crore in capex. We will complete 5,000 km of high-speed rail. Electrify 10,000 km of roads. Develop 100 smart cities with green mobility. Public-private partnerships will unlock ₹5 lakh crore and create 1.5 crore jobs.
Energy transition is non-negotiable. We allocate ₹1.5 lakh crore to reach 500 GW of renewables by 2030. We invest ₹30,000 crore in green hydrogen hubs. We expand battery storage. We pilot carbon capture in coal plants. Heavy industry emissions will fall by 20%.
Defence receives ₹6 lakh crore—enough to modernize without compromising fiscal balance. We invest ₹2 lakh crore in indigenous R&D—drones, cyber defence, hypersonics.
A secure India is a sovereign India.
This Budget is inclusive. Women-led enterprises receive ₹50,000 crore in low-interest loans. Divyangjan receive enhanced assistive technology under a ₹10,000 crore scheme. Taxes remain stable, but green investments and skilling expenses receive exemptions—because the future must be both sustainable and skilled.
Honourable Speaker,
This is not a Budget of numbers. It is a Budget of purpose.
Not a Budget of promises. A Budget of possibilities.
Not a Budget for the few. A Budget for the many.
Not a Budget that looks at the next election. A Budget that looks at the next generation.
In the long arc of history, nations rise not by chance but by choice. Today, we choose ambition over inertia. We choose equity over exclusion. We choose innovation over imitation. We choose the people over the powerful.
As Tagore envisioned, let us awaken to a heaven of freedom where India leads the world in innovation, equity, and harmony.
Honourable Speaker,
I commend this People’s Budget to the House
