Saugata Gupta, MD & CEO, Marico Ltd said the budget has laid out a clear focus on sustained public investment, manufacturing scale-up, employment generation and fiscal consolidation, which is a decisive shift towards people-first, consumption-led growth. “The continued emphasis on enhancing agricultural incomes through higher productivity and value addition is structurally positive for rural and semi-urban demand, creating sustained tailwinds for consumption,” he added.
Naveen Malpani, Partner , Consumer and Retail Industry Leader, Grant Thornton Bharat pointed out that the emphasis on improving equity and liquidity access for MSMEs is likely to drive incremental investments in Tier II and Tier III cities, which in turn can support a gradual pickup in consumer demand volumes. “This is particularly relevant for mass and mid-priced consumer categories, where spending is closely linked to income visibility. Over time, this shift can help make consumption growth less metro-centric and more broad-based,” he added.
Mohit Malhotra, CEO, Dabur India pointed out this was not a budget driven by “short-term populism” but one that focused on continuity, institution-building and resilience. He added that sharper focus on tier-2 and tier-3 cities to broaden India’ economic footprint will help drive deeper penetration of branded consumer products by improving access, logistics efficiency and income resilience across Bharat.
“Union Budget 2026–27 is not designed to stimulate consumption in the short term. Instead, it focuses on shaping the operating environment for retail through fiscal consolidation, infrastructure investment, MSME enablement, skilling, and regional growth. For the retail sector, its impact will be gradual and uneven, driven more by improvements in supply chains, workforce readiness, and rural and non-metro demand than by direct policy support,” said Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO, Retailers Association of India (RAI).
Published on February 1, 2026
