Budget 2026-27: CII backs Union Budget plan for dedicated rare earth corridors

Image used for representative purpose only. | Photo Credit: Reuters Industry body CII on Sunday (February 1, 2026) welcomed the Union Budget proposal to establish dedicated rare earth corridors in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha stating it would help India’s leadership in rare earth magnets. The Union Budget 2026 proposal towards establishment of Rare…

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India’s manufacturing sector activity witnesses slight recovery in January: PMI

The main impetus to manufacturing overall sales came from the domestic market. File (representational image) | Photo Credit: Reuters India’s manufacturing sector activity witnessed a slight recovery in January, amid a faster increase in new orders, even as business confidence slipped to its lowest level in three-and-a-half years, a monthly survey said on Monday (February…

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Budget 2026: Sitharaman proposes ₹10,000 crore investment in biopharma over next 5 years

Biopharmaceuticals, or biologics, are complex medicines manufactured from living organisms, cells, or tissues rather than through chemical synthesis. File | Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto Union Budget 2026-27 has proposed a biopharma strategy for healthcare advancement through knowledge, technology and innovation with an outlay of ₹10,000 crore over the next five years to develop India as…

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Budget 2026: Nirmala Sitharaman extends tax exemption on capital goods used to make lithium-ion cells for battery storage

Image used for representation purpose only. | Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto Eschewing big-ticket announcements, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday (February 1, 2026) resorted to a series of customs duty exemptions in the Union Budget to encourage domestic manufacturers of clean-energy components, including lithium-ion batteries and solar cells. The basic customs duty on sodium antimonate,…

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New Income Tax Act will come into effect on April 1, 2026: FM Sitharaman

Image used for representation purpose only. | Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto During her Union Budget presentation on Sunday (February 1, 2026), Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman informed that the new Income Tax, 2025, would come into effect in April this year, with the forms and rules to be notified “shortly” provisioning “adequate time” for taxpayers to acquaint themselves with the requirements.  …

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Credible and creditable: On Union Budget 2026-27

Where Budget 2025 was largely dominated by the income-tax rate and slab relaxations, Budget 2026 has done away with Big Bang measures. Instead, its scattershot approach, through various sectoral and issue-based measures, when taken together, is aimed at propelling India’s growth over the medium term. Given the level of geoeconomic and geopolitical uncertainties that the…

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