As Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman prepares to present the Union Budget 2026-27 on February 1, 2026, at 11 AM, leaders from energy infrastructure, HealthTech, corporate travel, road construction, agritech, and pesticides sectors are calling for strategic fiscal measures to enhance grid resilience, digital health maturity, compliance ease, sustainable highways, and innovation in agriculture.
Key expectations include dedicated funding for smart metering and interoperable IoT connectivity in power distribution, interoperable platforms and simplified GST/compliance for HealthTech, faster GST input credit refunds and process incentives for corporate travel/events, stronger PPP/InvIT frameworks and advanced materials for highways, increased R&D allocations (targeting beyond 0.7% of GDP), and reduction of GST on pesticides from 18% to 5% to support farmers.
Teppo Hemiä, Founder & CEO, Wirepas:
“As India enters the next phase of its energy transition, the Union Budget 2026–27 has an opportunity to strengthen how the country builds and operates its digital power infrastructure. While electrification and renewable integration have made strong progress, the focus must now shift to intelligence, resilience, and operational efficiency across the grid. One of the most critical areas is power distribution, where the rapid rollout of smart meters, rooftop solar, electric vehicles, and distributed energy resources is increasing grid complexity. Budget support that accelerates Advanced Metering Infrastructure beyond billing use cases, toward grid operations, power quality monitoring, and demand-side flexibility, will unlock far greater value from existing investments. Equally important is grid-edge intelligence enabled by interoperable, standards-based IoT connectivity. Supporting scalable, cost-efficient connectivity options and long-term lifecycle-efficient infrastructure will help utilities adapt to evolving requirements without repeated asset replacement. A forward-looking Budget can ensure India’s energy infrastructure is not only large-scale, but future-ready and resilient.”
Apurv Modi, Managing Director & Co-Founder, Abhay Group:
“Union Budget 2026 27 arrives at a defining moment for India’s healthcare journey when technology is no longer a support function but a system level enabler of access quality and efficiency. HealthTech today sits at the intersection of public health economic growth and digital governance. The upcoming budget has the opportunity to move the sector from momentum to maturity. India has seen widespread adoption of teleconsultations e pharmacies home diagnostics and digital health records. However much of this progress remains fragmented. Budget 2026 27 should prioritise the shift from standalone pilots to interoperable platforms that work seamlessly across states providers and populations. Focused investment in digital infrastructure for Tier 2 Tier 3 and rural India including connectivity cloud capacity and last mile delivery will ensure technology translates into outcomes. MSMEs form the backbone of HealthTech innovation yet face regulatory complexity, capital constraints and delayed approvals. Simplified compliance, faster validation pathways, affordable working capital and clear GST treatment for digital health solutions can significantly accelerate innovation without demanding subsidies. India is now ready for the next phase of digital public health. Interoperable health data standards secure exchanges incentives for identified research data and stronger cybersecurity will enable early detection, smarter policy and preventive care. With the right policy push HealthTech can evolve from convenience to national capability and position India as a global innovation hub for the decade ahead.”
Vinod Sah, CTO and co-founder, CoTrav:
“With the Union imminent, organisations operating in the corporate travel/events space are eagerly awaiting a simpler system of GST Input Credits. At present, it often happens that GST payments made to hotels, transportation partners, and various other service providers tend to get withheld for a considerably long period of time due to certain bottlenecks in processes. There is also a need to acknowledge and support businesses that follow proper GST and TDS compliance, maintain transparent invoicing, and run audit-ready financial systems. These companies should be encouraged through process-level incentives instead of being burdened with additional complexity. Clear and consistent guidelines around bundled services and multi-vendor billing, which are core to corporate travel and events, would go a long way in reducing confusion and creating a smoother, more compliance-friendly environment for the sector.”
Dheeraj Panda, Managing Director, Ammann India:
“To achieve Amrit Kaal and Net Zero goals, India’s highways must quickly align with global standards in policy and in execution. Roads are the foundation of development, so a steady highway capex is encouraging; but the real shift now should be towards ‘sustainable kilometres’ with roads built using advanced technology and materials that allow highways to last 20 years or more. Stronger PPP and InvIT frameworks can help crowd in private investment, which must be channelised towards technology that supports clean energy corridors and renewable integration. From an industry perspective, discussions around potholes should have been long behind us; the focus now must be on building highways that perform reliably over decades, with lower lifecycle costs and significantly reduced maintenance.”
Dr. R.G. Agarwal, Chairman Emeritus, Dhanuka Agritech Ltd:
“We often talk about strengthening India’s innovation ecosystem, but the reality is that India still spends only about 0.7% on research and development. Countries like China, Israel, the US and many European nations invest much more. If we genuinely want scientific progress and global competitiveness, R&D funding has to increase. Earlier, private-sector research was encouraged through income-tax deductions, which are no longer available. We hope this budget restores strong support for R&D for both public institutions and industry. Pesticides are not luxury products. They are plant medicines and a form of crop insurance for farmers. Yet they attract 18% GST, similar to luxury items. Just as the GST on essential human medicines was reduced, we urge the government to bring the GST on pesticides down to 5%, so farmers are not overburdened. At the same time, we recognise that several promises from the last Budget have moved from announcement to action. Other initiatives are underway, and the intent is positive. The key focus now should be execution and real impact at the farm level.”
These expert voices reflect a unified call for the Union Budget 2026 to deliver focused investments in digital grid intelligence, interoperable HealthTech platforms, GST and compliance simplification, sustainable highway infrastructure, and increased R&D support collectively advancing India’s energy transition, healthcare access, tourism recovery, agricultural productivity, and long-term innovation goals.
Last Updated on: Tuesday, January 27, 2026 10:12 am by Digital Herald Team | Published by: Digital Herald Team on Tuesday, January 27, 2026 10:12 am | News Categories: News, Finance