Gujarat Inc. demands ‘outcome-driven’ reforms in Union Budget 2026

Ahmedabad | Gujarat — As the Union Budget 2026 gets closer, the talk in Gujarat boardrooms is changing from “how much will the government spend?” to “how will this actually work on the ground?” With the world economy in a bad place and AI changing the rules of the game overnight, people in the industry are calling for a budget that goes beyond big numbers and focuses on how things will actually work.

Filling in the “Degrees vs. Skills” Gap

A degree is no longer a sure way for young people in India to get a job. With 40% of the population under 25, the education sector has never had more at stake.

“”Things have changed a lot in the professional world,” says Mr. Rishabh Jain, President of Swarrnim Startup and Innovation University. He says that even though more people are signing up, they aren’t getting jobs. The answer? A budget that puts “outcomes, not just outlays” first by paying for new AI labs and training teachers so that students are truly ready for the workforce.

Making the Grid and Data Centers More Eco-Friendly

India wants to have 500 GW of renewable energy by 2030, but just wanting it isn’t enough to get there. Mr. Ronak Chiripal of the Chiripal Group says that the rising and falling prices of oil are now affecting the costs of logistics and power. He is pushing for a better PLI scheme to help India stop relying on imports for solar parts.

At the same time, our digital backbone is growing just as quickly. By 2030, India’s data center capacity is expected to reach 8 GW. Rushabh Dedhia, the managing director of JIKA EPC Services, says that the AI era’s “GPU-dense” workloads need a new kind of infrastructure. He wants data centers to be given “National Infrastructure” status and for the people who will run them to be trained through a national program.

Helping the Dreamers and the Doers

The startup world, which used to be the “wild west” of new ideas, is growing up. But as you get older, new problems come up, like “survival capital” and keeping talent at home.

Adi Rishabh Jain, the vice president of Swarrnim Startup and Innovation University, says that ESOP taxation is a big problem. Right now, taxing workers before they even get cash from their stocks is “counterproductive.” Changing the tax system to only tax at the point of sale could be the key to stopping the “brain drain” and keeping India’s best innovators here.

We also can’t forget about the traditional powerhouses. The textile industry, which supports 45 million jobs, is currently dealing with huge US import tariffs. To keep India competitive with its neighbors, like Vietnam and Bangladesh, industry leaders are asking for lower GST rates and tax breaks to keep factories running.