Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, while presenting the Union Budget 2026–27 in Parliament, unveiled a series of major initiatives aimed at strengthening India’s industrial ecosystem and reducing import dependence. A key announcement was the establishment of dedicated rare-earth corridors in Odisha, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. These corridors will support mining, processing, research and manufacturing of rare-earth materials, building on the rare-earth permanent magnet scheme launched in 2025.
To enhance domestic chemical production, the Centre will introduce a new scheme to support states in developing three chemical parks. These parks will follow a challenge-based, cluster-oriented, plug-and-play model to attract investment and improve efficiency.
The Budget also gave a significant boost to the MSME sector with the proposal of a ₹10,000 crore MSME Growth Fund aimed at scaling high-potential enterprises into future industry leaders. Additionally, a dedicated initiative for high-quality sports goods manufacturing and research was announced to promote innovation and value addition.
Overall, the announcements underline the government’s focus on self-reliance, industrial expansion and employment generation through targeted sector-specific interventions.
