New Delhi: The Union Budget 2026–27 has placed exports at the heart of India’s growth strategy, unveiling a wide-ranging set of measures aimed at scaling manufacturing, easing trade, strengthening services exports and improving logistics to enhance global competitiveness.
According to a statement by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the budget is anchored in macroeconomic stability and sustained public investment, with a focus on positioning India as a trusted global trading partner and accelerating progress towards the ‘Viksit Bharat’ vision.
A key thrust of the budget is on expanding domestic manufacturing across both strategic and labour-intensive sectors. Flagship initiatives include Biopharma SHAKTI, the launch of India Semiconductor Mission 2.0, expansion of the Electronics Components Manufacturing Scheme, development of Rare Earth Corridors, and the setting up of chemical parks, alongside targeted support for capital goods and container manufacturing.
Labour-intensive sectors such as textiles, footwear, sports goods, handicrafts and handlooms are set to receive renewed policy attention through integrated parks, modernisation schemes, skilling initiatives and cluster rejuvenation programmes. The government also plans to revive 200 legacy industrial clusters through infrastructure and technology upgrades to improve productivity and reduce costs.
The services sector, another major export driver, will see a coordinated reform push with the proposed High-Powered Education-to-Empowerment and Enterprise Standing Committee, aimed at helping India target a 10% share in global services exports by 2047. The budget also proposes tax and regulatory reforms for IT and IT-enabled services, including faster approvals and greater certainty in transfer pricing, to boost India’s appeal as a hub for Global Capability Centres.
In a significant move to support digital services, the budget offers tax holidays up to 2047 for foreign companies providing global cloud services through India-based data centres, along with safe-harbour norms for related-party services—steps expected to attract investment and deepen digital infrastructure.
Special Economic Zones are set for a revamp, with reforms aimed at improving capacity utilisation and economies of scale while preserving export orientation. Measures include one-time facilitation for limited domestic sales at concessional duties and extended tax incentives for cloud and data-centre operations in SEZs.
To tackle logistics bottlenecks, the budget has announced a strong infrastructure push through higher public capital expenditure, expansion of Dedicated Freight Corridors, new National Waterways, promotion of coastal shipping, development of logistics parks and support for container manufacturing.
These steps are aimed at cutting logistics costs and improving supply-chain efficiency, especially for tier-2 and tier-3 cities.
MSMEs, described as the backbone of India’s export ecosystem, will get targeted support through a ₹10,000-crore SME Growth Fund, enhanced credit guarantees, mandatory use of TReDS by CPSEs and the integration of GeM with TReDS to improve access to timely and affordable finance.
The budget also outlines sector-specific export initiatives in areas such as agriculture, marine products, pharmaceuticals, tourism, AVGC and allied health services, as part of a broader strategy to diversify and deepen India’s export base.
Overall, the government is betting that a combination of competitive manufacturing, services-led growth, logistics modernisation and regulatory simplification will help lift exports, create jobs and strengthen India’s role in global value chains over the medium term.