The Union Budget 2026–27 signals a pragmatic and infrastructure-led policy direction, positioning logistics and multimodal development as key enablers of India’s long-term growth and competitiveness. With a strong focus on resilient supply chains, MSME-led manufacturing, and streamlined customs procedures, the Budget outlines a comprehensive framework to lower logistics costs and enhance efficiency across modes.
Infrastructure Push to Sustain Momentum: Central capital expenditure has been increased to ₹12.2 lakh crore in FY 2026–27, up from ₹11.2 lakh crore in the previous year, sustaining the government’s multi-year focus on infrastructure development across roads, railways, ports, airports, and urban infrastructure.
To accelerate private participation, the government announced the creation of an Infrastructure Risk Guarantee Fund, which will offer partial credit guarantees to lenders during the development and construction phases of infrastructure projects. The measure is expected to reduce perceived project risks and crowd in private developers and financiers, particularly for large transport and logistics assets.
The Budget also proposes dedicated REITs for monetising CPSE real estate, enabling redevelopment and creation of new commercial and industrial assets, which are likely to generate fresh construction activity and urban logistics demand.
Seven high-speed passenger rail corridors—including Mumbai–Pune, Hyderabad–Bengaluru, Chennai–Bengaluru and Delhi–Varanasi—have been announced. While primarily passenger-oriented, these corridors are expected to support express parcel movement and free up capacity on conventional tracks for freight operations.
Strong Thrust on Multimodal Logistics: Continuing its emphasis on multimodal logistics, the Budget announced a new east–west freight corridor connecting Dankuni in West Bengal to Surat in Gujarat, enhancing long-haul rail freight capacity for bulk and containerised cargo.
The government reiterated its commitment to operationalising 20 new National Waterways over the next five years, beginning with National Waterway-5 in Odisha, which will link mineral-rich regions and industrial clusters to ports. To support inland water transport, new ship-repair ecosystems will be developed at Varanasi and Patna, improving fleet uptime and reducing lifecycle costs for barge operators.
An incentive scheme has been proposed to shift cargo from road and rail to inland waterways and coastal shipping, with the stated objective of increasing their modal share from 6 per cent to 12 per cent by 2047. Structural support will also be extended to coastal and barge operators, terminals, and last-mile road and rail connectivity.
Boost for Courier, E-commerce and EXIM Logistics: In a significant reform for cross-border e-commerce, the Budget has removed the ₹10 lakh per consignment cap on courier exports, enabling higher-value B2C and B2B shipments. The move is expected to benefit D2C brands, MSME exporters, and cross-border e-commerce logistics providers.
The handling of rejected and returned e-commerce consignments will also be improved through technology-driven identification, reducing friction and costs in export reverse logistics.
Manufacturing Measures with Direct Logistics Impact: To strengthen EXIM logistics resilience, the Budget allocates ₹10,000 crore over five years for container manufacturing, aimed at creating a globally competitive domestic ecosystem and reducing container shortages.
The development of an integrated East Coast Industrial Corridor, with a key node at Durgapur, will support port-linked industrial growth and corridor-based logistics. Additional initiatives such as Mega Textile Parks, including a focus on technical textiles, and the revival of 200 legacy industrial clusters are expected to generate concentrated demand for inbound raw materials and outbound finished goods movement.
Skill Development and Workforce Readiness: The Budget proposes the development of five university townships near major industrial and logistics corridors, alongside training institutes designated as Regional Centres of Excellence. These measures aim to build a skilled workforce and support the professionalisation of inland water transport and logistics operations.
Customs and Trade Facilitation Reforms: Customs processes will increasingly move towards minimal intervention, with greater reliance on technology and risk-based systems to ensure faster and more predictable cargo movement. Warehousing reforms will shift the regime from officer approval-centric processes to warehouse operator–centric self-declarations, supported by electronic tracking and risk-based audits.
For trusted importers, the filing of bills of entry combined with the arrival of goods will automatically trigger customs processing for consignments with no compliance requirements, reducing dwell time and transaction costs.
Overall, the Union Budget 2026–27 reinforces logistics as a critical pillar of India’s growth strategy, combining infrastructure investment, multimodal integration, manufacturing support and procedural reforms to improve efficiency across domestic and international supply chains.
