Budget 2026: Capex, digitisation, tariff reform on CII wishlist for world-beating growth

Kolkata: As Feb 1 draws near, speculation as to what Budget 2026 can contain is peaking. Whatever the outcome, there are few things almost everyone agrees upon. And that is in the Budget, the government should try to do everything that is required to maintain and further boost GDP growth rates, generate employment, boost consumption and invest in infrastructure. Leading chamber of commerce Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has submitted a recommendation to the finance ministry that urges for a continuation of capital expenditure which the Modi government has been stepping up over the past few years, a push to digitisation with a dedicated fund and tariff reform that can provide a thrust to export competitiveness.

Among the recommendations of CII is emphasis on sustaining the capex push. CII states, "... a revitalised, Rs 150 crore, National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) 2.0 could be launched. The focus should be on shovel-ready, revenue-generating projects and streamlined dispute-resolution mechanisms to accelerate infrastructure delivery and crowd-in private investment".

The chamber of commerce has also urged the government to set up Development and Strategic Funding mechanisms to enhance India’s long-term competitiveness. They have said that an India Development and Strategic Fund can be created. It will be a sovereign-anchored platform to mobilise large pools of domestic institutional capital and foreign investment. "The IDSF could operate through two complementary arms: a developmental arm to support domestic priorities such as MSMEs, energy transition, and human capital; and a strategic arm to enable overseas acquisitions and partnerships that secure India’s long-term economic and security interests," CII has said.

CII wants the capital base of Development Financial Institutions to be enhanced. It has called for selective NBFC-to-bank transitions, allowing calibrated foreign equity, encouraging the entry of well-capitalised new banks, and consolidating weaker institutions to improve scale and efficiency. The chamber of commerce has also suggested that an expert committee could be set up "to reassess banking structures, ownership and governance norms, capital frameworks, and long-term institutional design for a future ready financial sector". It has also named the Narsimhan Committee as an example. CII has also suggested some measures to attract global capital and unlock liquidity. It has said that pilots could be launched using the GIFT City so that eventually a vibrant secondary market can be created with deep investor participation.

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CII stated that business confidence appears to be high among Indian Inc as signaled by its own Business Outlook Survey. It rose for the third quarter on the trot to a level which is the highest in the past five quarters. Domestic demand has been a major driver of this optimism. And two-thirds of firms has experienced higher demand in Q2FY26 and 72% is expecting more growth in Q3FY26.