India Budget 2026 Expectations Live Updates: Will Budget 2026 include mega Defence announcements after clashes with Pakistan? What Nirmala Sitharaman may announce

India Budget News Live Updates:
Budget 2026 expectations are rising around measures that can ease household financial pressure while strengthening access to formal credit.
According to Adhil Shetty, CEO of BankBazaar, the upcoming budget presents a key opportunity to align digital infrastructure, taxation, and credit systems with the country’s evolving economic needs.
Highlighting the importance of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), Shetty said a strong push under Digital India 2.0 could significantly improve access to loans and insurance.
“An allocation of around Rs 1 lakh crore for Digital India 2.0: covering DigiLocker, the Account Aggregator framework and fully agentless 24×7 Video KYC, can make credit and insurance faster, safer and more affordable,” he said.
He added that with Aadhaar-based KYC and consent-led data sharing already in place, deeper investment would help reduce delays, lower fraud risk and cut delivery costs.
On taxation, Shetty pointed out that while the government has raised the 30 per cent tax slab threshold to Rs 24 lakh under the New Tax Regime, inflation continues to push salaried individuals into higher brackets.
“Indexing the top slab to inflation or revisiting it could protect real incomes and free up Rs 2–3 lakh annually for savings and investments,” he said.
He also suggested introducing a flat deduction for long-term protection products, including life insurance, health insurance and pensions, without adding complexity to the tax structure.
For businesses, especially startups and MSMEs, Shetty stressed the need to extend ESOP tax parity to Udyam-registered enterprises, which could support talent retention and encourage formalisation.
Housing remains another key area of concern.
“The Rs 45 lakh cap on affordable housing no longer reflects urban realities. Revising it can help reduce EMIs and revive housing-led consumption,” he added.