Union Budget 2026: Govt may pick growth over fiscal consolidation, says Mihir Vohra   

The upcoming Union Budget on February 1 is likely to focus on promoting growth rather than boosting fiscal consolidation. The Indian economy has charted a strong growth path post Covid years. In fact, as per advance GDP estimates, the Indian economy is likely to log a GDP growth rate of 7.4%.    

From 2022-23 onwards, the economy logged a real GDP growth rate of 7.6%, 9.2%, 6.5% and 7.4%. This brings India among leading growth nations among major global economies.

According to Mihir Vohra, CIO, Trust Mutual Fund, the Budget is likely to focus more on the growth aspect of the economy.  

"The budget, I think, will be focusing more on the growth aspect. We have already seen and you know, the announcement that instead of fiscal deficit percentage targeting, we are going to start targeting debt to GDP, which is at 56% currently, the glide path to 50% is being made.

The change in stance of the RBI and the government over the last 9 to 12 months has been to stimulate more growth among the global uncertainty because we had huge shocks in terms of President Trump's erratic tariffs, we also had the shocks in terms of the geopolitical issues, so the focus will be more on growth I would say," Vohra told Business Today. 

FULL COVERAGE:  Union Budget 2026

Vohra also cited government's last year's key moves such as GST rate cuts and reducing income tax to boost consumption-led growth in the Indian economy. 

But Vohra said the capital expenditure would be another key factor to watch amid government's agenda for growth push in the upcoming Budget. 

"The important thing to observe is to figure out whether the thrust on capital expenditure continues like it has been in the past 5 years, where the private sector slack has been taken by the government and that's been a huge support to the economy. Last year, we saw consumption boost also by cutting income taxes and GST cuts. The government is I think firing on all cylinders along with RBI to stimulate growth, but this year again we need to see continuity of capex, so that's one of the key data points I am looking at," added Vohra.