Where public investment is going in 2026-27
Union Budget 2026-27 raises public capital expenditure to ₹12.2 lakh crore, from ₹11.2 lakh crore budgeted for FY2025-26.
| Programme | What the sources state |
|---|---|
| Public capital expenditure | ₹12.2 lakh crore in FY2026-27, up from ₹11.2 lakh crore budgeted for FY2025-26 |
| High-speed rail | Seven new High-Speed Rail corridors |
| City Economic Regions | Funded at ₹5,000 crore per region over five years |
| Industrial corridors | 11 industrial corridors under development (Invest India); Budget 2026-27 adds an East Coast Industrial Corridor |
| Industrial smart cities | 12 greenfield industrial smart cities approved under the National Industrial Corridor Development Programme (NICDP), planned as plug-and-play sites |
| Dedicated Freight Corridors | New corridors proposed, linking Dankuni in the east to Surat in the west |
| National Waterways | 20 new National Waterways over five years, starting with NW-5 in Odisha to connect the Talcher and Angul mineral areas |
Note: ₹1 lakh crore equals ₹1 trillion; ₹1 crore equals ₹10 million.
Industrial corridors and smart cities
The NICDP smart cities are planned as plug-and-play sites. Invest India lists 11 corridors under development and 12 approved greenfield cities, and Budget 2026-27 adds an East Coast Industrial Corridor to the programme. For a site search, these nodes sit alongside state industrial estates and the state policies listed on where FDI goes.
Freight and logistics
Budget 2026-27 proposes new Dedicated Freight Corridors from Dankuni to Surat and 20 new National Waterways over five years. The first, NW-5 in Odisha, is aimed at the Talcher and Angul mineral areas. Exporters should read these alongside the trade agreements now in force; see trade agreements.
Digital public infrastructure
UPI handled about 15 billion transactions a month in FY2024-25, according to the Economic Survey 2025-26. On the tax side, the Finance Act 2026 exempts, subject to conditions, a notified foreign company’s income from cloud services that use data centres in India, to the tax year ending 31 March 2047. The conditions are set out on corporate tax and Budget 2026-27 and the 2026 Act.
Compliance reduction and decriminalisation
Invest India counts more than 47,000 compliances reduced and 1,500 obsolete laws repealed. Budget 2026-27 proposed decriminalising further income-tax defaults, such as non-production of books of account, with a fine only for minor offences; confirm with the authority which proposals have been enacted.
Single window and escalation
- National Single Window System (NSWS). The national portal for identifying and applying for approvals. The Economic Survey 2025-26 asks states to bring all state services into single windows linked to it.
- Project Monitoring Group. Supported by Invest India, it helps resolve issues for projects above ₹500 crore.
- State single windows. Some states run their own portals; Uttar Pradesh’s Nivesh Mitra, for example, offers 353 services of 29 departments. See approvals and timelines.
What to check next
- Confirm whether a corridor node or smart city near your shortlist has land and utilities ready, and on what terms.
- Check which approvals the state single window covers and whether it is linked to NSWS.
- For projects above ₹500 crore, ask whether the Project Monitoring Group route is open to you.
- For a cloud or data-centre business, test the Finance Act 2026 conditions before relying on the exemption.
- Treat Budget 2026-27 proposals as proposals until the enabling notification is issued.