Expat businessmen in UAE view India Budget 2026 with guarded optimism

Vijay Valecha, February 2, 2026, Daily Mirror

Gulf News - Dubai: Indian expatriate business leaders based in the UAE broadly welcomed India’s Union Budget 2026, describing it as stable, continuity-driven, and strategically aligned with long-term growth.

Their reactions underline support for NRI-focused reforms, infrastructure-led expansion, manufacturing incentives, and technology investments, while also pointing to missed opportunities in sectors such as affordable housing, tourism scale-up, and financial services depth.

Across sectors ranging from retail and finance to healthcare, electronics, real estate, and FMCG, the common thread was confidence in India’s medium-term trajectory, coupled with expectations of sharper execution and more targeted interventions.

For Yusuffali M.A., Chairman of LuLu Group, the Budget signals continuity with a long-term vision and a clearer role for overseas Indians.

“The third budget presented by the finance minister focuses on tax simplification, economic growth, and long-term investment-driven development, with an emphasis on youth empowerment, NRI supports and fiscal stability,” he said. “It reflects confidence in India’s growth in the coming years making it one of the largest economies of the world.”

He highlighted the intent to draw global Indians deeper into India’s capital markets. “Government’s push to expand NRI participation is both timely and strategic,” Yusuffali said, pointing to proposals “to ease rules under the Portfolio Investment Scheme and raises overall foreign holding limits, enabling more global Indians to invest directly in India’s growth story.”

Technology and manufacturing also featured prominently in his assessment. He noted that the Budget “strategically invests in India’s future-ready workforce by focusing on high-growth sectors such as Artificial Intelligence,” calling it a signal of “long term commitment to technology driven inclusion.

From an infrastructure and real assets perspective, Yusuffali pointed to measures such as “dedicated REITs to accelerate the monetisation and recycling of CPSE real estate assets,” and the proposed “Infrastructure Risk Guarantee Fund to provide partial credit guarantees and improve lender confidence.” He added that the focus on “Tier-2 and Tier-3 growth corridors and better urban connectivity” is likely to support residential and logistics demand over time.

NRI compliance relief Several UAE-based professionals said the Budget stops short of major tax restructuring for overseas Indians, but meaningfully improves transaction ease.

Jai Prakash Agarwal, Chairman of the ICAI Dubai Chapter, said there were “no major tax overhauls for NRI but glimpses of ease of doing business seen in this budget.” He pointed to specific measures including “investment limits doubled to 10% in listed firms,” “TCS reduced to 2% on foreign remittance for education and overseas spends,” and the move where “TAN requirements scrapped for TDS on property sales by resident buyers.”

“These are the indications that ‘ease of doing business’ is the focus and voices of NRIs are being heard,” Agarwal said, adding that these are “welcome steps and will help in boosting NRI investments in India.”

Naveen Sharma, Chairman of the Taxation Society UAE, described the Budget as one that “adopts a steady, growth-oriented approach.” He said that “with capital expenditure of about ₹11 trillion, the government has clearly signalled its continued focus on infrastructure, manufacturing, and long-term economic growth,” which he noted is “positive for NRIs looking at India as a long-term investment destination.”

For Gulf-based overseas Indians, Sharma said it is “reassuring that there are no new taxes on remittances or overseas income,” while the fiscal deficit target “of around 5% of GDP reflects discipline and stability.” He added that expectations around “relief on capital gains or clearer guidance on residency-linked taxation were not fully addressed.”

“Overall, this is a pragmatic budget—supportive of growth and investor confidence, but one where NRIs will still need careful and proactive tax planning,” Sharma said. Process reforms Adeeb Ahamed, Managing Director of LuLu Financial Holdings, described Budget 2026 as one that “reflects a clear preference for stability and continuity, particularly in the face of persistent global volatility.”

From a financial services and NRI compliance standpoint, he pointed to specific procedural improvements. Among these was “the rationalisation of foreign portfolio participation by individuals resident outside India,” including the increase in “the individual investment limit for Persons Resident Outside India (PROIs)… from 5% to 10%,” and the aggregate cap raised to 24%

He also highlighted transaction-level simplification for property sellers. “The proposal to allow TDS on the sale of immovable property by non-residents to be deposited using the resident buyer’s PAN-based challan, instead of requiring a separate TAN, further simplifies compliance and reduces transaction friction for NRI property sellers,” Ahamed said.

Another liquidity-related relief he flagged was the reduction of “TCS on overseas tour packages and on remittances for education and medical purposes… from 5% to 2%.”

At the same time, he described the approach to growth sectors as cautious. “From the perspective of India’s financial services ecosystem, the Budget remains measured,” he said, noting that while reviews and committees were announced, “greater clarity on sequencing, scale and medium-term growth priorities would have strengthened the sector’s outlook.”

Fiscal credibility Market-focused voices in the UAE highlighted the Budget’s emphasis on fiscal discipline and debt management as a critical shift.

Vijay Valecha, Chief Investment Officer at Century Financial, said, “India’s 2026-27 Budget strikes a smart balance between careful spending and strong growth.” He pointed to the fiscal deficit being “set at 4.3% of GDP for 2026-27,” and noted that the focus has moved toward “bringing down total debt relative to the size of the economy—expected to fall to around 55.6% next year, with a target of roughly 50% by 2030.”

According to Valecha, this trajectory “will ease future interest costs, free up money for useful projects, and build greater confidence in India’s economy.”

he described capital expenditure as the defining feature of the Budget. “The biggest highlight is the continued big push on government project spending, raised to ₹12.2 lakh crore for 2026-27,” he said, adding that sustained investment in “roads, cities, clean energy, and factories will create jobs, spark wider economic activity, improve efficiency, and encourage private companies to invest more.”

Source

Daily Mirror