The Union Budget 2026-27 has garnered largely positive responses from industrial and business leaders in Pune, who have welcomed the substantial capital support for MSMEs while also highlighting areas that require further attention, particularly export promotion and adoption of AI.
To develop MSMEs as ‘champions’, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced capital support by setting up a Rs 10,000 crore SME Growth Fund. This fund will provide a new impetus to MSMEs based on selected performance and growth criteria, with the aim of growing high-potential companies.
The India Self-Reliant Fund, launched in 2021, will be supplemented with Rs 2,000 crore to continue providing venture capital support to micro-enterprises and ensure sustained access to equity financing.
Sitharaman said the Center has already made available more than Rs 7 lakh crore through the Trade Receivables Discount System (TReDS). The new measures would mandate TReDS to be the one-stop platform for MSME procurement by central public sector undertakings. He budget It also introduced a credit guarantee scheme that would link the government e-marketplace (GeM) with TReDS for faster financing.
Welcoming the announcement, MCCIA Director General Prashant Girbane said: “It is a forward-looking budget, smooth, has growth prospects and represents a decreasing fiscal deficit. We appreciate that now, for late payments, the TReDS platform will be used more effectively. And we also welcome the improved use of the Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE), and greater support from capital to enable small businesses to become medium-sized and medium-sized businesses to become large.
However, Girbane also raised some demands. “The TReDS platform should have been linked with the GSTN portal so that all invoices can have a mandatory trade discount. And the Center should do more in disseminating AI among MSMEs.”
“Like other countries like the UK, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and others, we demand that economic ambassadors from private industry be deployed abroad to help Indian MSMEs promote exports and international marketing,” he added.
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HP Srivastava, President, Deccan Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture, PuneHe described the fund as a historic initiative. “The Rs 10,000 crore MSME Growth Fund is a historic capital injection that will enable our small manufacturers to expand their operations without the burden of traditional debt.”
“Allowing manufacturing units in SEZs to sell their products in DTA at a preferential tariff rate as a one-time measure will help overcome the current challenges they face in the global market,” Srivastava added.
Sitharaman further announced that professional bodies like ICAI, ICMAI and ICSI will be encouraged to design short-term modular courses to train a pool of ‘Corporate Mitras’, particularly in Tier II and Tier III cities, which will help MSMEs meet compliance requirements at affordable costs, reducing operational burdens and allowing businesses to focus on growth.
Boost to the electric vehicle sector
Dr Prashant Khankhoje, strategic advisor on energy, MCCIA, said: “Exemption from basic customs duties on capital goods used to manufacture lithium-ion batteries, along with extension of concessionary duty benefits for lithium-ion cells and their parts used in manufacturing batteries for electric vehicles, will reduce the cost of electric vehicles and batteries.”
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“Exemption of basic customs duty on import of sodium antimonates, which is essential for manufacturing glass used in solar panels, will boost the solar cell manufacturing industry,” Khankhoje added.
“However, the most important thing is that for these announcements to be successful, the Center must keep policies consistent for at least five years, considering the interest of investors while maintaining a harmony between the Center’s and state policies,” Khankhoje said.
Dr V Premnath, Director, Venture Centre, Pune, said, “The focus on scaling up manufacturing in biopharma, semiconductors, electronic components, chemicals, sustainable textiles and others will open up many opportunities for startups and SMEs in these spaces. The proposed capital support and liquidity support for MSMEs will enable MSMEs to invest more and take on greater risks.”
“It is great to see that the Government of India plans to develop and grow ‘business and industry creation’ through orange economy initiatives, given the tremendous economic potential of the entertainment sector, and strengthen India’s ‘soft power’,” Premnath added.