Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the general budget for the financial year 2026-27 in Parliament on 1 February 2026. In this budget, special importance has been given to North-Eastern India, especially under the Purvodaya scheme, emphasis is on strengthening the region from economic, cultural and tourism point of view. The main objective of Purvodaya Yojana is to make the North-East a modern economic hub, improve infrastructure, preserve cultural heritage and provide new employment opportunities to the local people. Many big and good news announcements have been made in the budget regarding the development of North-East, the biggest plan of which is the development of Buddhist Circuit.
What developments will be made under the Buddhist Circuit?
In the budget speech, the Finance Minister said that Buddhist circuits will be developed under a new scheme in the six north-eastern states of Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Assam, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura. This scheme has been created to bring the rich Buddhist heritage of the North-East to the global level. There are many ancient Buddhist monasteries, temples, pilgrimage sites and historical places in these states. Like Tawang Monastery of Arunachal Pradesh, Rumtek Monastery of Sikkim and some Buddhist sites of Assam are also included in it.
- Through this circuit, these places will be conserved, repaired and old monasteries and temples will be given new life.
- Better facilities like good rest houses and interpretation centers will be created for the pilgrims.
- Here information about Buddhist history and importance of Buddhism will be given.
- Better road connectivity, traffic and other basic facilities will also be available.
- With this, tourism will continue throughout the year, especially Buddhist tourists will come from countries of South-East Asia like Thailand, Sri Lanka, Japan and Myanmar.
- This will not only promote religious tourism but will also create thousands of new jobs for the local people in hotels, guides, transport, handicrafts and other small and big businesses.
- This will strengthen the economy of the region and India’s spiritual heritage will shine further in the world.
Gift of 4 thousand new electric buses
Apart from this, it has been announced to introduce 4,000 electric buses to promote environment-friendly transportation in the North-East. With these buses, the air of the area will remain clean, travel will be cheap and easy and there will be good connectivity even in remote areas. This will benefit both tourism and everyday commuting.
Focus also on health services and medical tourism
In the budget, it has been said to create 5 regional medical hubs in the country, in which North-East will also be included. Besides, a network of emergency and trauma care centers will be created. With this, international patients will be able to come to the North-East and local people will get better treatment closer to them.
Special provision of Rs 1.4 lakh crore
In the budget, based on the recommendations of the 16th Finance Commission, a special provision of Rs 1.4 lakh crore has been made to the states, which will be spent on the development of rural and urban local bodies. Overall, this budget shows a new direction of development for the North-East with a strong focus on tourism, health, connectivity and employment. A scheme like the Buddhist Circuit will not only strengthen the cultural identity of the six states, but will also make the entire region economically self-reliant and bright on the global tourism map. This is indeed a big and happy news for the people of North-East, which will improve their lives in the coming years.
