Budget 2026: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday, 1 February, presented her ninth consecutive Union Budget 2026 in Parliament. The Union Budget 2026 is coming ahead of assembly elections in four states and one Union Territory this year.
The Budget presented by the Finance Minister focused on at least these poll-bound states, which are scheduled to vote in April this year. The announcements are related to the textile sector, road and rail infrastructure, and support for mining of rare earths.
FM Sitharaman’s speech also included announcements related to tourism and pilgrimage programmes, focusing on these states.
Four states and one Union Territory will see Assembly Elections in 2026.They are Assam, West Bengal, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Of these, BJP is in power in Assam and Puducherry. Tamil Nadu, Kerala and West Bengal are ruled by opposition parties.
West Bengal
Sitharaman announced a new dedicated freight corridor from Dankuni in the East to Surat in the West to promote environmentally sustainable movement of cargo.
Apart from this, she proposed the creation of five tourism destinations in five Purvodaya states, and will make provisions for 4,000 e-buses.
Sitharaman also announced the development of an integrated East Coast Industrial Corridor with a well-connected node at Durgapur. West Bengal elections will be a key battle as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will challenge the ruling TMC led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is another opposition-ruled state led by a DMK-Congress government under Chief Minister MK Stalin.
The finance minister announced support for the mineral-rich states of Odisha, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu to establish critical mineral facilities.
“A scheme for rare-earth permanent magnets was launched in 2025. We now propose to support the mineral-rich states of Odisha, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu in establishing dedicated rare-earth corridors,” she announced in her speech, which lasted about 85 minutes.
The Finance Minister also announced the development of seven high-speed rail corridors between cities as growth connectors: Mumbai-Pune, Pune-Hyderabad, Hyderabad-Bengaluru, Hyderabad-Chennai, Chennai-Bengaluru, Delhi-Varanasi, Varanasi-Siliguri. One of these corridors is proposed to benefit Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu.
The Finance Minister also announced plans to set up birdwatching trails on Pulicat Lake, along the border areas of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.
Kerala
Sitharaman announced the establishment of turtle trails along key nesting sites in the coastal areas of Odisha, Karnataka and Kerala, where elections are scheduled later this year.
The BJP has never won elections in Kerala. The saffron party made history by winning the Thiruvanthapuram civic body poll recently.
Assam
A scheme for rare-earth permanent magnets was launched in 2025. We now propose to support the mineral-rich states of Odisha, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu in establishing dedicated rare-earth corridors.
An outlay of ₹20,000 crore over the next five years to strengthen infrastructure in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, including in Assam. The FM also announced the setting up of a NIMHANS-2 and upgrading the National Mental Health Institutes in Ranchi and Tezpur in Assam.
Assam is a state where BJP is in power. In the past, the Center has focused on connectivity, infrastructure, and food security across North East India, with past allocations prioritizing road expansion, railway connectivity, and disaster management infrastructure.
