New Delhi, Feb. 1 -- Finance Minister (FM) Nirmala Sitharaman presented her ninth consecutive budget on February 1, keeping the government's focus on structural, long-term growth rather than boosting near-term market sentiment.

Experts point out that the Budget 2026 hints at the government's clear awareness of geopolitical risks and India's trade dynamics with the US.

The FM announced measures to strengthen domestic competitiveness, support MSMEs, and attain self-reliance in key reliance sectors.

Pankaj Pandey, the head of research at ICICI Securities, pointed out that the government is looking at more structural inflows in terms of FDI. The FM announced a tax holiday for data centres till 2047- a place where there have been the bigges...