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The President of the US-India Business Council (USIBC), former Ambassador Atul Keshap, has welcomed the Union Budget for fiscal year 2026-27.
"USIBC welcomes the Union Budget 2026-27, which underscores the Government of India's continued focus on economic growth, resilience, and global competitiveness. At a time of continued geopolitical uncertainties, the budget reflects India's ambition to sustain momentum as one of the world's fastest-growing major economies and a critical partner for the United States in the Indo-Pacific," the statement issued by Keshap read. "We welcome the government's emphasis on sustained growth of around 7%, fiscal prudence, and a strong thrust on public investment. These macro priorities, alongside pillars such as strengthening the foundations of growth and trust-based governance, are central to strengthening India's long-term growth fundamentals and deepening bilateral commercial ties between the world's two largest democracies," the statement added. https://x.com/USIBC/status/2017960538576486626?s=20 USIBC encourages the government to accelerate reforms in taxation, ease of doing business, trade facilitation, and regulatory predictability to further enhance investor confidence and unlock higher levels of foreign investment, it mentioned. USIBC welcomes India's focus on frontier technologies through initiatives such as India Semiconductor Mission 2.0, including its emphasis on equipment and materials, full-stack design, Indian IP, and resilient supply chains, as well as industry-led research and training. We also welcome the AI Mission, National Research Mission, Innovation Fund, and the National Quantum Mission, which underscore India's ambition in next-generation technologies, the statement read. "USIBC also commends the government's policies to provide stronger boost to its strategic sectors by providing tax holidays until 2047 for foreign cloud service providers having data centres in India and various initiatives in the Tourism Sector including establishment of Five Hubs for Medical Value Tourism. USIBC encourages further clarity on implementation and private-sector participation to maximize impact and investor interest." In Energy and Climate, USIBC notes the Rs 20,000 crore Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS) scheme, the Basic Customs Duty (BCD) exemptions for Lithium-Ion Cell manufacturing and critical mineral processing and the Scheme for Rare Earth Permanent Magnets. We also welcome the extension of BCD exemptions for Nuclear Power Projects until 2035. In Healthcare and Services, we note the efforts to have a more robust care economy with stronger focus on addressing concerns relating to mental healthcare, Divyangjans and cancer, as per the statement. "The budget's focus on Manufacturing in Strategic and Frontier Sectors, including Electronics Components and Container Manufacturing, is an important signal of India's intent to integrate more deeply into global value chains. Initiatives related to dedicated Chemical Parks, Biopharma SHAKTI, and the scheme to revive 200 legacy industrial clusters have the potential to drive competitiveness, provided they are accompanied by policy certainty, streamlined approvals, and openness to global partnerships." "USIBC remains committed to working closely with the Government of India and stakeholders across the U.S.-India corridor to identify key policy priorities and advance reforms that strengthen commercial ties, enhance competitiveness, and drive shared economic prosperity," it said. (ANI)
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