BTL 866 - Union Budget 2026

 

The Banking Tutor’s Lessons

BTL 866                                                                                03-02-2026

Union Budget 2026

In this Issue I am sharing Important points from Budget 2026 (only points related to Bankers from Exam/Interview point of view).

On the sacred occasion of Magha Purnima and the birth anniversary of Guru Ravidas, the Finance Minister said, as this is the first Budget prepared in Kartavya Bhawan, it is inspired by 3 kartavyas.

This is Yuva Shakti-Driven Budget emphasizes on Government’s ‘Sankalp’ to focus on poor, underprivileged and the disadvantaged.

The Budget is framed against a backdrop of global economic uncertainty, supply chain realignments, and evolving investment dynamics, while reaffirming India’s focus on sustained growth and fiscal discipline.

While presenting the Budget, the finance minister stated that the government aims to “transform aspiration into achievement and potential into performance.”

Three Kartavya (duties) guiding this year’s Budget

Accelerating and sustaining economic growth by enhancing productivity, competitiveness, and resilience amid volatile global dynamics.

Fulfilling aspirations and building capacity by strengthening human capital, skills, and institutional capabilities.

Advancing Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas by ensuring equitable access to opportunities across regions, communities, and sectors. 

This year’s Union Budget underscores the importance of regulatory certainty, ease of doing business, and targeted reforms to attract long-term capital and deepen India’s integration with global markets.

Budget theme

Yuva Shakti–driven growth: Converting India’s demographic dividend into productive capacity through skilling, employment, and enterprise creation.

Champion SMEs and Micro Enterprises

Recognising MSMEs as a critical driver of employment, exports, and supply-chain resilience, the Budget introduces targeted measures to support their scale-up and formalisation.

Key initiatives include:

Creation of Champion SMEs through targeted equity, liquidity, and professional support

Enhanced access to capital and risk finance to support growth-oriented enterprises

Institutional support to improve compliance capabilities and operational efficiency, particularly for MSMEs in Tier II and Tier III locations 

Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics (AVGC) sector, and Creative Economy

The Budget recognises the growing role of the creative economy or the Orange Economy as a source of skilled employment and export potential.

Tax Reforms

Introduction of a simplified and modernised Income Tax framework, with redesigned rules and forms to reduce compliance complexity and improve ease of filing.

Tax holiday till 2047 for foreign companies providing cloud services using data centre infrastructure in India, aimed at strengthening India’s position as a global data centre and digital services hub.

Measures to reduce litigation and improve trust-based tax administration, including rationalisation of penalties, decriminalisation of minor offences, and integration of assessment and penalty proceedings.

Extension and rationalisation of safe harbour provisions, particularly for Information Technology and IT-enabled services, to provide greater certainty on transfer pricing and tax outcomes.

Targeted tax measures to support manufacturing, services, and export-oriented sectors, including incentives for data centres, cloud services, toll manufacturing, and bonded warehousing.

Reforms to support foreign investment and global mobility, including exemptions and simplified tax treatment for non-resident experts and foreign service providers operating from India.

Rationalisation of customs and indirect tax provisions to support energy transition, critical minerals, electronics manufacturing, and export competitiveness.

Continued emphasis on predictability, transparency, and stability in the tax regime, aimed at improving India’s overall investment climate and long-term investor confidence.

Customs reforms

Simplification of the customs tariff structure to support domestic manufacturing, promote export competitiveness, and correct duty inversion.

Phased removal of long-standing customs duty exemptions on items manufactured domestically or where imports are negligible.

Incorporation of effective rates from customs notifications directly into the tariff schedule to improve transparency and certainty for businesses.

Expansion of duty-free and concessional duty provisions to support export-oriented sectors, including marine products, leather, textiles, electronics, and energy transition technologies.

Enhanced trust-based customs systems, including extended duty deferment periods and greater facilitation for authorised and compliant importers, to enable faster clearance and reduced transaction costs.

Measures to improve customs processes through automation and risk-based assessments, supporting smoother movement of goods across borders and strengthening India’s trade facilitation framework.

Sekhar Pariti

+91 9440641014

Tail Notes

 

Kartavya Bhavan is a newly constructed, state-of-the-art government office complex in New Delhi, developed under the Central Vista Redevelopment Project. It serves as the primary component of the Common Central Secretariat (CCS), a unified campus designed to consolidate central ministries and departments that were previously scattered across aging colonial-era buildings like Shastri Bhawan and Nirman Bhawan. Strategically located on Janpath along the Kartavya Path (formerly Rajpath), near India Gate and the new Parliament House.

DBC 2334 - Credit Card

 

The Banking Tutor 

Daily Banking Concept -  2334

Credit Card 

A credit card is a plastic or metal card issued by a financial institution that allows cardholders to borrow funds to make purchases, with the obligation to repay the borrowed funds plus interest and fees.

DBC 2333 - Service Sector

 

The Banking Tutor 

Daily Banking Concept -  2333 

Service Sector 

The service sector of the economy is focused on the activities that involve helping people, offering support, or performing tasks, rather than creating or selling physical items.

Recap Daily Banking Concepts – January 2026

 

                      The Banking Tutor                              

Recap Daily Banking Concepts – January  2026

 

2301. Hot IPO

The term hot IPO refers to an initial public offering with significant demand. These IPOs are popular, drawing a tremendous amount of interest from investors and the media even before they hit the market.

 

2302. Profit Taking

Profit taking is selling a security to realize gains after its price has significantly increased.

 

2303. Backtesting

Backtesting is vital for traders and analysts as it assesses a trading strategy's potential by applying it to historical data.

 

2304. Angel Capital

Angel capital is capital invested in a start-up venture or small  business expansion by an angel investor. Angel investors are typically individuals, partnerships or investment groups who consciously seek higher rates of return than is available in more traditional investments. An angel investor typically seeks returns on investment of 20-25 percent or more per year.

 

2305. Hostile Bid

A hostile bid is a specific type of takeover bid that bidders present directly to the target firm's shareholders because management is not in favor of the deal. Bidders generally present their hostile bids through a tender offer.

2306. Discount Window

The discount window is a central bank lending facility meant to help commercial banks manage short-term liquidity needs. Banks that are unable to borrow from other banks in the money market may borrow directly from the central bank's discount window paying the discount rate.

 

2307. Cookie Jar Accounting

Cookie jar accounting or cookie jar reserves is an accounting practice in which a company takes a quantity of large reserves from an economically successful year and incurs them against losses from less successful years.

 

2308. Window Dressing

“Window dressing” is commonly used to refer to the way a pedestrian facing the window of a retail business is presented to make their goods look most appealing. However, when it is referenced by the finance world, the term means something slightly different. In finance, window dressing refers to the efforts taken to make the financial statements of a business look better before they are publicly released"

 

2309. Big bath accounting

Big bath accounting is an earnings management technique where a company intentionally takes a large, one-time charge against income to make current results appear worse, with the goal of improving future earnings. This is often done by writing down assets or recognizing unexpected liabilities in the current period, which reduces net income but leads to lower expenses and higher profits in subsequent periods. The primary goal of big bath accounting is to "clean the slate" for future performance.

 

2310. Bag Holder

A bag holder is an informal term used to describe an investor who holds a position in a security that decreases in value until it descends into worthlessness. In most cases, the bag holder stubbornly retains their holding for an extended period, during which time the value of the investment goes to zero.

 

2311. Banana republic

In economics, a banana republic is a country that's dependent on exporting a single product or commodity, and has an economy that's controlled by foreign corporations. The term is often used to describe countries in the tropics that are run despotically. The term "banana republic" was coined in 1904 by American author O. Henry. Characteristics of banana republic is Economic instability, Political instability, Social inequality, Exploitation of resources.

 

2312. White Knight

In economics, a white knight is a company or investor that buys a target company to prevent a hostile takeover. The white knight is a friendly defense strategy that's preferable to a hostile takeover by an unfriendly bidder, also known as a black knight.

 

2313. Acquisition Premiums

An acquisition premium is the difference between a company's estimated fair value and the price paid to acquire it during a merger or acquisition.

 

2314. Pure Discount Instrument

A pure discount instrument is a type of security that pays no income until maturity. It is also known as a zero-coupon bond (or simply zero-coupon) or a deep discount bond.

 

2315. Defined Contribution Plans

A defined contribution (DC) plan is a retirement savings plan where employees contribute a fixed amount or percentage of their pay that grows tax-deferred until retirement.

 

2316. Dividend Discount Model

The dividend discount model (DDM) is a valuation method that predicts a company's stock price based on the present value of its future dividend payments.

 

2317. Unicorn

The term unicorn refers to a privately held startup company with a value of over $1 billion.

 

2318. Position Trader

A position trader buys an investment for the long term in the expectation that it will appreciate in value. This type of trader is less concerned with short-term fluctuations in price and the news of the day unless they alter the trader's long term view of the position.

 

2319. Capital Employed

Capital employed measures the total amount of money that a company spent to achieve profitability.

 

2320. S&P 500 Index

The S&P 500 is a stock market index weighted by market capitalization that is made up of 500 of the largest public companies in the United States. 

 

2321. Hit The Bid

"Hit the bid" is a term used when a trader agrees to sell at the bid price, the highest price a buyer is willing to pay for a security or asset.

 

2322. Day Trading

Day trading is a fast-paced form of investing in which individuals buy and sell securities within the same day. The goal is to profit from short-term price movements in stocks, options, futures, currencies, and other assets.

 

2323. Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF)

An exchange-traded fund pools a group of securities into a fund and can be traded like an individual stock on an exchange.

 

2324. Unemployment Rate

The unemployment rate is the percentage of the labor force that does not have a job but is actively pursuing employment.

 

2325. Dividends

Dividends are a percentage of a company's earnings paid to its shareholders as their share of the profits.

 

2326. Raw Materials

Raw materials are basic materials used in the production or manufacturing of goods which can be either direct or indirect based on their role in the production process. 

 

2327. Private Equity

Private equity is an investment class where firms raise capital to acquire and manage private companies or take public companies private, with the goal of ultimately selling them for a profit. These investments typically require significant capital commitments over several years.

 

2328. Tokenized Equity

Tokenized equity refers to representing ownership in a company or asset through digital tokens on a blockchain.

 

2329. Mutual Fund

A mutual fund is a financial vehicle in which shareholders put their money together to invest in securities (e.g., stocks, bonds, money market instruments). A fund manager chooses the best investments, and every investor shares in the profits if the investments do well.

 

2330. Extended Trading

Extended trading is conducted by electronic exchanges either before or after regular trading hours. Volume is typically lower, presenting risks and opportunities.

 

2331. Compound Interest

Compound interest is interest on a loan or deposit added to the previous balance, which in turn increases the interest paid in the following period.

Sekhar Pariti

01-02-2026                                                                                +91 94406 41014

DBC 2332 - Risk-return trade-off

 

The Banking Tutor 

Daily Banking Concept -  2332 

Risk-return trade-off 

Risk-return trade-off is a trading principle that establishes a direct relationship between risk and potential returns.

DBC 2331 - Compound Interest

 

The Banking Tutor 

Daily Banking Concept -  2331 

Compound Interest 

Compound interest is interest on a loan or deposit added to the previous balance, which in turn increases the interest paid in the following period.

 

The Banking Tutor’s Lessons

BTL 865                                                                                30-01-2026

Priority Sector Lending Certificates - Scheme  

Purpose: To enable banks to achieve the priority sector lending target and sub-targets by purchase of these instruments in the event of shortfall and at the same time incentivize the surplus banks; thereby enhancing lending to the categories under priority sector.

Nature of the Instruments: The seller will be selling fulfilment of priority sector obligation and the buyer would be buying the same. There will be no transfer of risks or loan assets.

Modalities: The PSLCs will be traded through the CBS portal (e-Kuber) of RBI. The detailed operational instructions for carrying out the trades are available through the e-Kuber portal.

Sellers/Buyers: Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs), Regional Rural Banks (RRBs), Local Area Banks (LABs), Small Finance Banks (SFBs) and Urban Co-operative Banks (UCBs) who have originated PSL eligible category loans subject to such regulations as may be issued by the Bank.

Types of PSLCs: There would be four kinds of PSLCs :–

i) PSLC Agriculture: Counting for achievement towards the total agriculture lending target.

ii) PSLC SF/MF: Counting for achievement towards the sub-target for lending to Small and Marginal Farmers.

iii) PSLC Micro Enterprises: Counting for achievement towards the sub target for lending to Micro Enterprises.

iv) PSLC General: Counting for achievement towards the overall priority sector target.

Priority Sector comprises several categories, including Agriculture and Micro Enterprises. In addition to the overall target and sectoral targets for lending to agriculture and micro enterprises, banks are required to achieve specified sub-target for lending to Small and Marginal Farmers. Accordingly, to avoid computational issues in assessing the achievement/shortfall of PSL targets, it is advised that the above four types of certificates will represent specific loans and count for specific sub-targets/targets as indicated hereunder:

PSLC – Agriculture - All eligible Agriculture loans except loans to SF/MF for which separate certificates are available.  Counting for achievement of agriculture target and overall PSL target.

PSLC - SF/MF - All eligible loans to small/marginal farmers. Counting for achievement of SF/MF sub-target, Weaker Sections sub-target, NCF sub-target, agriculture target and overall PSL target

PSLC – Micro Enterprises - All PSL Loans to Micro Enterprises. Counting for achievement of microenterprise sub-target and overall PSL target.

PSLC – General -  The residual priority  sector loans i.e. other than loans to agriculture and micro enterprises for which separate certificates are available. Counting for achievement of overall PSL target

Thus, a bank having shortfall in achievement of any sub-target (e.g. SF/MF, Micro), will have to buy the specific PSLC to achieve the target. However, if a bank is having shortfall in achievement of the overall target only, as applicable to it, may buy any of the available PSLCs.

Computation of PSL achievement: A bank’s PSL achievement would be computed as the sum of outstanding priority sector loans, and the net nominal value of the PSLCs issued and purchased. Such computation will be done separately where sub targets are prescribed as on the reporting date.

Amount eligible for issue: Normally PSLCs will be issued against the underlying assets. However, with the objective of developing a strong and vibrant market for PSLCs, a bank is permitted to issue PSLCs up-to 50% of previous year’s PSL achievement without having the underlying in its books.

However, as on the reporting date, the bank must have met the priority sector target by way of the sum of outstanding priority sector lending portfolio and net of PSLCs issued and purchased. To the extent of shortfall in the achievement of target, banks may be required to invest in RIDF/other funds as hitherto.

Credit Risk: There will be no transfer of credit risk on the underlying as there is no transfer of tangible assets or cash flow.

Expiry date: All PSLCs will expire by March 31st and will not be valid beyond the reporting date (March 31st), irrespective of the date it was first sold.

Settlement: The settlement of funds will be done through the platform.

Value and Fee: The nominal value of PSLC would represent the equivalent of the PSL that would get deducted from the PSL portfolio of the seller and added to the PSL portfolio of the buyer. The buyer would pay a fee to the seller which will be market determined.

Lot Size: The PSLCs would have a standard lot size of ₹ 25 lakh and multiples thereof.

Accounting: The fee paid for purchase of the PSLC would be treated as  an ‘Expense’ and the fee received for the sale of PSLCs would be treated as ‘Miscellaneous Income’.

Disclosures: Both seller and buyer shall report the amount of PSLCs (category-wise) sold and purchased during the year in the ‘Disclosures to the Balance Sheet’.

Illustration:

1. Bank A may sell PSLCs with a nominal value of ₹100 crores to Bank B on July 15, 2025. Bank B will reckon ₹100 crore towards its priority sector achievement as on the reporting dates of September 30, 2025, December 31, 2025 & March 31, 2026, while Bank A will subtract the same from its achievement figures for the respective reporting dates. The PSLC will expire by March 31, 2026.

2. Bank C may buy ₹100 crore PSLC on March 30, 2026 from Bank D. Bank D will subtract ₹100 crore from its PSL reporting on March 31, 2026 while Bank C will reckon the same towards its achievement. The PSLC will expire by March 31, 2026.”

Sekhar Pariti

+91 9440641014

RBI Notification dated 19th January 2026