New Delhi, Feb 01: The Union Health Ministry has been allocated Rs 1,06,530.42 crore in the Budget 2026-27, a 10 per cent hike over 2025-26, with the government proposing a scheme to support states in establishing five regional medical hubs in partnership with the private sector to promote India as a prime medical tourism destination.

These hubs will serve as integrated healthcare complexes that combine medical, educational and research facilities, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said while presenting the Union Budget for 2026-27 on Sunday.

The minister said that existing institutions for Allied Healthcare Professionals (AHPs) will be upgraded and new AHP institutions established in private and government sectors.

“This will cover 10 selected disciplines, including Optometry, Radiology, Anaesthesia, OT technology, Applied Psychology and Behavioural Health, and add 100,000 AHPs over the next five years,” she said.

Sitharaman said that a strong care ecosystem, covering geriatric and allied care services, will be built and, in the coming year, 1.5 lakh caregivers will be trained in allied skills, such as wellness, yoga and operation of medical and assistive devices.

Of the Rs 1,06,530.42 crore allocated for the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Rs 101,709.21 crore has been earmarked for the Department of Health and Family Welfare and Rs 4,821.21 crore for the Department of Health Research.

For the first time, the Union Health Ministry has allocated Rs 1,000 crore for the Scheme for Allied Health Care Professionals (AHPs).

Among the centrally sponsored schemes, the allocation for the National Health Mission has been increased from Rs 37100.07 crore in 2025-36 to Rs 39,390 crore in 2026-27. Moreover, the allocation for Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna (AB PM-JAY) has been hiked from 8,995 crore to Rs 9,500 crore, marking a rise of 5.6 per cent.

For the National Tele Mental Health Programme, the budgetary allocation has been increased marginally from Rs 45 crore to Rs 51 crore while the National Digital Health Mission has been earmarked Rs 350 crore from Rs 324.26 crore in the 2026-27 fiscal.

The budgetary allocation for autonomous bodies increased from Rs 21,901.98 crore in 2024-25 to Rs 22,343.97 crore in 2026-27.

The allocation for AIIMS, New Delhi, has been increased from Rs 5,238.70 crore to Rs 5500.92 crore, while the ICMR has been earmarked Rs 4821.21 crore, recording around a 10 per cent increase.

Srinagar, Feb 01: Jammu and Kashmir has been allocated ₹43,290.29 crore as grant-in-aid in the  Union Budget for 2026–27 under the Revenue Section, marking an increase over the revised estimates of the current financial year, according to budget documents tabled in Parliament.

The allocation has been made under Demand No. 58 — Transfers to Jammu and Kashmir — and will be accounted for under Major Head 3602, which covers grants-in-aid to Union Territory governments on behalf of the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Budget data shows that actual expenditure on Jammu and Kashmir during 2024–25 stood at ₹46,000.06 crore. However, allocations witnessed a sharp decline in the Budget Estimates for 2025–26, which were pegged at ₹41,000.07 crore. During the course of the year, this amount was marginally enhanced to ₹41,340.22 crore at the Revised Estimates stage.

For 2026–27, the proposed grant of ₹43,290.29 crore reflects an increase of nearly ₹1,950 crore over the revised estimates of 2025–26. Despite this upward revision, the allocation remains below the actual expenditure level of 2024–25, indicating that the Centre has not fully restored earlier funding levels for the Union Territory.

The entire provision has been made under the Revenue Section, with no capital outlay component, underscoring Jammu and Kashmir’s continued dependence on central revenue transfers to meet routine administrative and developmental expenditure.

New Delhi, Feb 01: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday announced the development of ecologically sustainable mountain trails in Jammu and Kashmir as part of the Union Budget 2026-27.

Presenting the Budget in Parliament, Sitharaman said that Jammu and Kashmir will be development for ecologically sustainable mountain trails.

Similar initiatives will also be taken up in the Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Araku Valley in the Eastern Ghats and the Western Ghats to promote eco-friendly tourism while preserving fragile ecosystems.

She further announced that turtle trails along key nesting sites in Odisha, Karnataka and Kerala will also be developed to support conservation efforts and sustainable tourism. (KNC)

New Delhi, Feb 01: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday proposed to set up five hubs for medical tourism and a Rs 10,000-crore outlay for Biopharma Shakti programme over the next five years.

Presenting the Union Budget, she said, “I propose to launch a scheme to support states in establishing five regional medical hubs.”

She said these hubs will serve as integrated healthcare complexes that combine medical, educational and research facilities.

She said, “I propose the Biopharma Shakti with an outlay of Rs 10,000 crore over the next five years, this will build the ecosystem for domestic production of biologics and biosimilars.”

The strategy will include a biopharma-focused network with three new National Institutes of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, popularly known as NIPERS, and upgrading seven existing ones, she added.

“It will also create a network of 1,000 accredited India clinical trials sites. We propose to strengthen the central drug standard control organisation to meet global standards and approve timeframes, through an approval time frames through a dedicated scientific review cadre, and specialists,” said said.

She also proposed setting up three new All India Institute of Ayurveda.

New Delhi, Feb 01: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday makes history as she presents a record ninth consecutive Budget that is expected to unveil measures to sustain growth momentum, maintain fiscal discipline, and contain reforms that could buffer the economy from global trade frictions, including US tariffs.

This will take Sitharaman closer to the record of 10 budgets that were presented by former Prime Minister Morarji Desai over different time periods. Desai presented six budgets during his tenure as finance minister from 1959 to 1964, and four budgets between 1967 and 1969.

Former finance ministers P Chidambaram and Pranab Mukherjee had presented nine and eight budgets, respectively, under different prime ministers.

Sitharaman, however, will continue to hold the record of presenting the maximum number of budgets on the trot — nine straight budgets under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

She was in 2019 appointed as India’s first full-time woman finance minister when Prime Minister Narendra Modi won a decisive second term. After Modi came back to power in 2024 for the third time, Sitharaman continued to retain her finance portfolio.

Sitharaman took charge of the Finance Ministry on May 31, 2019, and has steered the economy through the Covid-19 pandemic and geopolitical turmoil, making India the fastest-growing major economy in the world.

Sitharaman completed six years and eight months in office on January 31, 2026. On February 1, she will present a record ninth budget in a row.

Ahead of the Budget session, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said Sitharaman presenting the Union Budget for the ninth consecutive time “will be recorded as a matter of pride in India’s parliamentary history”.

Former prime minister Morarji Desai had presented the Union Budget on 10 occasions, while P Chidambaram presented the Budget nine times, but not for consecutive years.

The other longest-serving Finance Minister at a stretch was C D Deshmukh, who took charge of the Ministry on June 1, 1950, and remained in office for about six years and two months.

Manmohan Singh, known for pushing economic liberalisation, was Finance Minister for about five years between June 21, 1990, and June 16, 1996.

Later as Prime Minister, Singh held the additional charge of Finance portfolio for a brief period once in 2008 and again in 2012.

The first Finance Minister of Independent India was R K Shanmukham Chetty.

Here are some facts related to the Budget presentation in independent India.

FIRST BUDGET: The first-ever Union Budget of independent India was presented on November 26, 1947, by the nation’s first finance minister R K Shanmukham Chetty.

MAXIMUM NUMBER OF BUDGETS: Former Prime Minister Morarji Desai holds the record for presenting the maximum number of budgets. He has presented a total of 10 budgets during his tenure as finance minister under Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and later under Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri.

He presented his first Budget on February 28, 1959, full budgets in the following two years and an interim one in 1962. This was followed by two full budgets. After four years, he presented another interim Budget in 1967, followed by three full budgets in 1967, 1968, and 1969, presenting a total of 10 budgets.

SECOND HIGHEST NUMBER OF BUDGETS: Former finance minister P Chidambaram presented the Budget on nine occasions. He first presented the Budget on March 19, 1996, during the United Front government led by Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda. He presented another Budget under the same government the next year and returned to the hot seat when the Congress-led UPA came to power in 2009.

He presented five budgets between 2004 and 2008. After a stint as Union Home Minister, he was back in the finance ministry and presented budgets in 2013 and 2014.

THIRD HIGHEST NUMBER OF BUDGETS: Pranab Mukherjee presented eight budgets during his tenure as finance minister. He presented budgets in 1982, 1983 and 1984 and five straight ones between February 2009 and March 2012 in the Congress-led UPA government.

LONGEST BUDGET SPEECH: Sitharaman holds the record for the longest budget speech when her presentation on February 1, 2020, lasted two hours and 40 minutes. At the time, she cut short her speech with two pages still remaining.

SHORTEST BUDGET SPEECH: Hirubhai Mulljibhai Patel’s interim Budget speech in 1977 is so far the shortest at just 800 words.

TIMING: The Budget was traditionally presented on the last day of February at 5 pm. The timing followed a colonial era practice when the announcements could be made in London and India at the same time. India is 4 hours and 30 minutes ahead of the British Summer Time, and so presenting the Budget at 5 pm in India ensured that it was happening in the daytime in the United Kingdom.

The timing was changed in 1999 when then finance minister Yashwant Sinha in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government presented the Budget at 11 am.

Since then budgets are presented at 11 am.

DATE: The Budget presentation date was in 2017 changed to the 1st of February to allow the government to complete the Parliamentary approval process by March-end and allow implementation of the Budget from the start of the fiscal year on April 1.

Presenting the Budget on February 28 meant that the implementation could not start before May/June after accounting for 2-3 months of the parliamentary approval process.