India, Feb. 2 -- Budget 2026-27 elevates competitiveness, rather than welfare, stimulus, or even growth, to a kartavya (duty). In doing so, it signals a quiet but consequential shift in how India understands its economic challenge. Growth, the budget implies, is no longer the hard part; remaining competitive in a fractured global economy is. This shift reflects a global environment that has become less appreciative of macroeconomic performance alone. Trade is increasingly shaped by geopolitics rather than efficiency, supply chains are being reconfigured under strategic pressure, and capital flows have grown more volatile and selective. In such a world, growth alone no longer guarantees stability or insulation.

India enters this phase wit...