Budget 2026 Reactions: What Founders and CEOs Are Really Saying

India’s Budget 2026–27: Voices of Discipline, Innovation, and Execution

New Delhi, February 1, 2026 - India’s Union Budget 2026-27 landed with a mixed reception. Markets dipped and investors scrutinised the 4.3% fiscal deficit target, but beyond Dalal Street, a deeper and more thoughtful conversation took shape among startup founders, industry leaders and investors. Across Twitter/X and executive boardrooms, the Budget was debated not as a short-term boost but as a strategic blueprint for sustainable growth, innovation and execution.

A Budget Read Between the Lines

Presented against the backdrop of global uncertainties and India’s resilient growth, Budget 2026 chose discipline over spectacle. It held the line on fiscal consolidation while boosting infrastructure, MSMEs, technology sectors and SME capital. Leaders reacted not with fireworks, but with carefully calibrated optimism about what this Budget signals for the coming decade.

Kotak’s Banker Lens: Credibility First

Veteran banker Uday Kotak set the tone for financial sector responses. On X, he framed the Budget as a statement of fiscal credibility—a foundation on which sustainable growth can be built.

“Fiscal prudence is the bedrock of confidence.” - @UdayKotak

Kotak welcomed the government’s emphasis on fiscal discipline and capital expenditure, reflecting a long-held view that economic credibility is the precondition for investor confidence.

Bahl’s Startup Gospel: Indicorns, Not Unicorns

Startup leader Kunal Bahl offered a founder’s perspective, celebrating the ₹10,000 crore Champion SME Growth Fund not merely as capital, but as a signal for cultural shift toward sustainable business models.

“Valuations are vanity. Profitability is sanity.” - @1kunalbahl

For Bahl, this Budget nudges India’s startup ecosystem toward “Indicorns”-profitable, enduring businesses that matter beyond billion-dollar valuations.

Unicorn & Scale-Up Founders: Sectoral Optimism With Caveats

Senior founders reacted with optimistic nuance:

• Yashish Dahiya (PolicyBazaar) welcomed focused SME support as a potential catalyst for growth in fintech and insurtech spaces.

• Bhavish Aggarwal (Ola) lauded the Budget’s continued thrust on EVs, green energy and manufacturing-critical sectors for India’s long-term strategic autonomy.

• Tech entrepreneurs praised Semiconductor Mission 2.0, seeing it as vital for India’s digital sovereignty.

At the same time, founders flagged gaps. Multiple voices on X emphasised the lack of explicit middle-class tax relief, warning that consumer demand—a key driver for many tech startups-could remain subdued. Others amplified long-standing concerns about tax complexity and ESOP burdens affecting talent retention and early-stage growth.

Ahead of the Budget, industry advocacy groups such as Nasscom had called for clearer startup-friendly tax policies, including ESOP tax deferments and cloud regulation clarity to bolster innovation-centric firms.

Industry Leaders: Vision, With Conditions

Beyond startup circles, corporate India offered thoughtful, future-oriented reactions:

• Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (Biocon) described the Budget as “visionary and growth-oriented”, especially crediting its focus on biotech, healthcare innovation and manufacturing expansion.

• Nilesh Shah (Kotak AMC) highlighted reforms and infrastructure spending but noted that capital markets remained cautious.

• EY India partners emphasised that Semiconductor Mission 2.0 would create vital demand and strengthen India’s tech ecosystem.

• TRU Realty CEO hailed the Mumbai–Pune High-Speed Rail Corridor as transformative for real estate and regional connectivity.

• JSA Partners saw the SME fund as a key announcement that could energize small businesses.

A Builder’s Budget, Not a Crowd-Pleaser

Taken together, reactions to Budget 2026-27 paint a consistent narrative: this was not a Budget engineered to spark instant market euphoria. Instead, it is a Budget of discipline + long-term execution.

Across sectors:

• Bankers appreciated credibility and fiscal balance.
• Founders welcomed capital and cultural shifts toward sustainable growth.
• Unicorn leaders saw sectoral opportunity with caution.
• Industry veterans endorsed vision anchored in execution risk.

The absence of headline-chasing euphoria should not be mistaken for lack of confidence. On the contrary, India’s business leaders appear aligned around a central idea: growth requires patience, clarity and execution, not theatrics.

As one founder put it in private conversation: “This is a Budget for builders, not just targets.”

And if policy intent translates into on-ground delivery, Budget 2026-27 may be remembered not for how markets reacted on day one, but for how confidently India’s enterprises scaled in the years that followed.