For the social sector, the Union Budget 2026 opens new avenues for stronger public–private collaboration, outcome-based CSR investments, and scalable community interventions. The emphasis on technology integration and capacity building further empowers NGOs, PSUs, and corporates to align initiatives with national development priorities, ensuring measurable impact and accelerated progress toward an inclusive and resilient Viksit Bharat.
CSR Times brings together insights from corporates, NGOs, experts, and thought leaders to showcase how policy intent can translate into purposeful action, driving sustainable impact and strengthening the nation’s collective journey toward Viksit Bharat.
The Union Budget 2026 sends a strong signal of continuity and confidence for India’s industrial and energy future. The emphasis on logistics efficiency, policy stability, and technology-led reforms will materially improve project execution across the energy value chain and provide greater certainty for long-term investments. Clarity on energy transition pathways, support for refining–petrochemical integration, and incentives for export-oriented downstream manufacturing are particularly encouraging and will help accelerate private sector participation. Combined with sustained capital expenditure, long-term infrastructure financing, and focused skilling initiatives, these measures will enhance global competitiveness, deepen industrial ecosystems, and enable sustainable job creation. We also welcome the continued focus on MSMEs and emerging energy transition areas such as CCUS and critical mineral corridors, which are essential for strengthening energy security and building resilient supply chains in an increasingly volatile global environment. At Nayara Energy, we remain committed to partnering with the government to translate these policy priorities into tangible growth, responsible investments, and meaningful societal impact, while supporting a balanced and resilient energy transition.
Mr. Teymur Abasguliyev
CEO, Nayara Energy
Women’s entrepreneurship is no longer about participation alone; it is about ownership, scale, and leadership. The Union Budget 2026–27 takes a decisive step in this direction by explicitly enabling women to move from credit-linked livelihoods to becoming owners of enterprises. The proposal to establish Self-Help Entrepreneur (SHE) Marts as community-owned retail platforms marks a structural shift in how women-led businesses are integrated into markets, value chains and formal retail ecosystems. By combining innovative financing, collective ownership models and cluster-level aggregation, the Budget recognises that sustainable women entrepreneurship requires more than access to loans—it requires access to markets, branding and institutional support. This approach builds on the success of grassroots programmes while creating pathways for women entrepreneurs to scale, formalise and compete. For States like Odisha, where women play a pivotal role in self-help groups, micro-enterprises, agro-processing and handicrafts, such interventions can unlock significant economic and social dividends. As India advances towards Viksit Bharat, empowering women as entrepreneurs and business owners is not just a social imperative; it is an economic necessity. The Budget’s emphasis on women-led enterprises reinforces the idea that inclusive growth is most powerful when women are positioned at the centre of India’s economic transformation.
Ms. Shaifalika Panda
Founder & CEO, Bansidhar & Ila Panda Foundation (BIPF)
Budget 2026 - 27 reflects continuity and fiscal maturity. Sustaining public capital expenditure at ₹12.2 lakh crore while maintaining a credible path of fiscal consolidation underscores policy stability - an important enabler for long gestation sectors like real estate. The continued emphasis on infrastructure led development across transport corridors, urban mobility and economic clusters will gradually widen real estate demand beyond traditional metros. Improved connectivity and employment creation are essential for strengthening Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities as viable residential and commercial markets. The focus on sustainability, clean energy and climate-resilient infrastructure is also directionally encouraging. It reinforces the shift towards more efficient buildings, integrated urban planning and lower lifecycle costs, while aligning development with long-term climate goals. However, the Budget is notably restrained on affordable housing. With the current definition no longer reflecting market realities, the segment’s share of total housing supply risks declining from around 18% to nearly 12%. Rising land and construction costs, without targeted policy support are making this segment increasingly difficult to sustain. Affordable housing should be viewed not merely as a social imperative but as economic infrastructure - one that directly impacts employment, rental affordability, commuting patterns and urban stability. Addressing this gap, alongside faster approvals and execution-led reforms, would have made the Budget more balanced from a real estate standpoint.”
Mr. Boman Irani
Chairman & Managing Director, Rustomjee Group
The Union Budget 2026 underscores a clear intent to position artificial intelligence and emerging technologies as foundational drivers of inclusive and sustainable growth. The Finance Minister’s focus on capacity-building AI missions and continued support through national research and innovation frameworks signals a long-term commitment to strengthening India’s technology backbone. For B2B food-tech platforms, this direction is particularly relevant, as AI is central to enhancing supply-chain efficiency, demand forecasting, quality control, and data-driven decision-making across the food ecosystem. By investing in AI capacity-building, research support, and a technology-driven ecosystem, the Union Budget 2026 lays the groundwork for B2B food-tech startups to innovate responsibly, optimise operations, and scale data-led solutions across the supply chain
Mr. Sandipan Mitra
CEO & Co-founder, HungerBox
The Union Budget 2026 signals a clear intent to move India from being a technology consumer to a technology creator. The continued focus on artificial intelligence, deep tech research, capacity-building missions, and national innovation frameworks shows that the government now recognises emerging technologies as core economic infrastructure, not optional experiments. Initiatives around AI skilling, research funding, quantum technologies, and innovation-led growth are a step forward compared to previous years. That said, this is a beginning—not a culmination. While the direction is encouraging, the real impact will depend on how quickly these missions translate into accessible compute infrastructure, industry–academia collaboration, startup capital, and deployment at scale across sectors like governance, healthcare, manufacturing, and finance. Budget 2026 creates the right momentum; the next phase must focus on execution, depth, and continuity to truly unlock India’s deep-tech potential.
Mr. Ajay Setia
CEO & Founder, Invincible Ocean
The Union Budget 2026 reflects a calibrated shift from post-pandemic fiscal support to medium-term structural consolidation, prioritising delivery efficiency over expanded welfare outlays. Social sector allocations in health, education, and skilling signal continuity, with a sharper focus on improving outcomes of existing programmes through digital integration and outcome-linked financing. The development narrative centres on human capital formation and employment-linked growth, aligning skilling, MSME support, and infrastructure spending. However, limited expansion in social protection may leave vulnerable populations exposed to inflationary pressures. Ultimately, the budget's success hinges not on allocations alone, but on governance quality and equitable execution at every level.
A Vikram Joshe
Founder and President, WAE Ltd.
Despite headline increases across multiple schemes focusing on social welfare, the data shows a decisive reallocation rather than an expansion of welfare. MGNREGS allocations have been cut by roughly two-thirds compared to last year’s revised estimates, while infrastructure-linked programmes like Jal Jeevan Mission have been scaled up nearly fourfold. This signals a clear policy shift away from income and employment guarantees towards asset-based welfare, raising serious questions about how rural households will cope with climate and livelihood shocks.
Mr. Satyam Vyas
Founder / CEO, Climate Asia
“We welcome the Union Budget 2026 and its strong emphasis on women’s empowerment and unlocking growth beyond metros. The focus on identifying and developing City Economic Regions across Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities is a timely step towards creating more balanced opportunities and inclusive development. Equally encouraging is the push to empower women across industries, with announcements such as SHE (Self-Help Entrepreneur) Marts, building on schemes like Lakhpati Didi. Meanwhile, the establishment of a girls’ hostel in every district will help improve access to higher education, especially in STEM and longer-duration courses by reducing barriers for female students. At Girnar Foundation, we continue to support this direction through on-ground initiatives focused on enabling access to learning and uplifting communities, guided by our commitment to UN SDGs 4 (Quality Education) and 5 (Gender Equality). Together, these measures will accelerate India’s growth in a way that is balanced, inclusive, and aligned with the vision of a Viksit Bharat.”
Pihu Jain
Head, Girnar Foundation
The Union Budget 2026 reinforces the essential role of inclusive growth and community empowerment, creating fertile ground for CSR initiatives that go beyond compliance. By prioritising skill development, education, rural welfare and community-driven solutions, it underscores how corporates can catalyse grassroots impact through sustainable partnerships. At Embassy Group, we are deepening our focus on health, education and environment-centric programmes, integrating Budget-aligned priorities to strengthen community resilience and promote locally rooted social outcomes that uplift underserved populations.
Shaina Ganapathy
Head - Community Outreach Initiatives for Embassy Group, Embassy Group
This year’s Budget clearly shifts focus toward workforce productivity and employability. The emphasis on skilling, digital infrastructure, AI adoption, and MSME growth signals that India’s demographic dividend must translate into job readiness. Furthermore, the budget prioritizes skill-linked growth — the real impact will depend on ensuring these investments meaningfully reach Tier II and Tier III youth. For the social and development sectors, this Budget marks a clear shift toward outcome-driven investment, particularly in skilling, digital access, and entrepreneurship. Funding priorities increasingly favor initiatives that improve employability and economic participation rather than short-term program delivery. we see that the real barrier is not aspiration but structured access to career navigation, communication skills, and workplace exposure. This Budget creates space for NGOs to act as bridges — translating policy into practical pathways that connect underserved youth to meaningful employment and long-term mobility.
Sashi Gundala
Director of Operations, Aspiring Leaders India Foundation, Aspiring Leaders India Foundation
