Industry leaders welcome Budget push for healthcare, manufacturing & deeptech as India moves towards self-reliant future

Industry leaders have welcomed the Union Budget’s boost for healthcare, manufacturing and deeptech, and for striking a balance between immediate fiscal adjustments and long-term capacity building. 

Presenting her ninth consecutive Union Budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman outlined a strategy built on three core objectives: accelerating economic resilience, fulfilling the aspirations of a youthful demographic, and ensuring inclusive development.

Impetus to healthcare sector 

Healthcare is a focus area of the Budget. Key proposals include ‘Biopharma Shakti,’ a Rs 10,000-crore initiative aimed at strengthening India’s biopharmaceutical infrastructure as the disease burden shifts towards complex, non-communicable conditions. There are also proposals to establish a second NIMHANS campus in North India and upgrade National Mental Health Institutes in Ranchi and Tezpur. 

The Budget also addresses immediate industry needs by rationalising import duties on medical devices and reducing prices on critical medicines like those for cancer and diabetes.

Madhusudhan HK, Country Manager of medtech firm Aerolase, notes that these fiscal measures lay the foundation for broader access to advanced technological solutions. “These duty cuts, coupled with support for domestic manufacturing and exports, enable clinics to deploy cutting-edge lasers and diagnostics affordably, while streamlined regulations accelerate approvals for innovations,” he says.

To promote India as a hub for medical tourism services, the Budget proposes the launch of a scheme to support states in establishing five regional medical hubs, in partnership with the private sector. 

Dr Dharminder Nagar, Co-Chair of FICCI Health and Services and MD of Paras Health, says the medical tourism initiative reflects the government’s long-term vision for equitable healthcare development beyond metro cities. He expects it to broaden access to quality treatment for both domestic and international patients.

Balance between agriculture and deeptech

The Budget also aims to create a balance between India’s agrarian roots and its deeptech future. 

On the rural front, the government has proposed ‘Bharat Vistaar,’ a multilingual AI-powered tool to aid decision-making for farmers, alongside targets to position Indian cashew and coconut as global premium brands by 2032. It also aims to strengthen the fisheries value chain. 

The government is also doubling down on hardware sovereignty and digital infrastructure. The Finance Minister has announced a near-doubling of the outlay for the Electronics Components Manufacturing Scheme to Rs 40,000 crore and launched the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) 2.0.

Amit Chand, Founder of BYT Capital, highlights the impact of ISM 2.0 on reducing execution risks. “The real unlock now is speed and coordination: faster approvals and disbursals, shared testbeds and qualification labs, and predictable government/industry procurement so Indian innovations move from pilots to scaled deployments.”

The government is also making a decisive push for strategic autonomy with the decision to establish ‘rare earth corridors’ in mineral-rich states like Odisha, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu. This move aims to reduce the country’s dependence on imports and boost domestic processing and research for critical minerals. 

Complementing the focus on raw material security, the Budget has also proposed a 20-year tax holiday for foreign companies providing global cloud services via Indian data centres to court Big Tech investments.

Vishesh Rajaram, Founding Partner at Speciale Invest, views these moves as a signal of essential policy continuity. 

“Continued support for national missions across emerging technologies—semiconductors, space, clean energy, AI and quantum—signals policy continuity that is essential for deeptech ventures, where innovation cycles are long,” he explains. 

He adds that by prioritising foundational systems, the Budget positions India as not just an “adopter”, but also as a “creator of frontier technologies” over the next decade.

Push for MSMEs

The Budget has also placed micro, small, and medium Enterprises (MSMEs) at the centre of ‘Viksit Bharat 2047’ vision, identifying them as the vital engines that will drive the next phase of growth from Tier II and III cities.

To fuel this momentum, the Budget has unveiled significant financial boosters, including a dedicated ₹10,000-crore fund for future MSME champions and a ₹2,000-crore top-up to the Self-Reliant India Fund. Additionally, the government has introduced liquidity measures such as new invoicing platforms and ‘Corporate Mitras’ to ease compliance and credit guarantees.

Archana Jahagirdar, Founder & Managing Partner of Rukam Capital, sees these measures as catalysts for entrepreneurial activity from smaller towns. “As our Finance Minister noted, the next growth phase for MSMEs will emerge from Tier II and III cities, positioning them as new engines of progress. The Budget policies not only support but also propel the Indian startup ecosystem, enabling businesses to thrive and innovate.”

Vinay Jain, Founder & Managing Director, GADOTT, a Rajasthan-based bathware company, says, “The planned strengthening of MSME support structures, together with customs tariff reforms and targeted tax measures, demonstrates the government’s concern for the financial and market access issues that growth-oriented businesses frequently confront.”

Impact of tax reforms 

Meanwhile, the financial markets faced the headwinds of revised tax structures, including significant increases to the Securities Transaction Tax (STT). 

The Budget has raised the STT on futures to 0.05% from the present 0.02% and STT on options premium and exercise of options to 0.15% from 0.1% and 0.125% respectively. This announcement triggered immediate volatility in brokerage stocks.

Despite the initial apprehension in the markets, industry leaders are advocating for a broader perspective on the policy shifts. 

Dhiraj Relli, MD & CEO of HDFC Securities, says, “The immediate (market) correction appears to be a knee-jerk response. I remain confident that investors should maintain their market participation, focusing strategically on sectors with strong earnings visibility rather than capital-intensive plays,” he advises.

Relli views the new tax structure as a necessary step for ecosystem health. “While the enhanced STT regime may create near-term headwinds for capital market participants, it reflects a long-term vision for market stability and maturity,” he notes, adding that the cumulative effect of these provisions positions the market for sustainable growth through FY27.