The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) urged the government to focus on institutional reforms and fiscal consolidation in the upcoming 2026-27 budget to maintain India’s growth momentum. The industry body presented these recommendations on Thursday, emphasising debt sustainability, fiscal transparency, revenue collection, and spending efficiency as key areas for improvement.“India has achieved a rare convergence of high growth, low inflation, and improving fiscal indicators. The next Union Budget must continue this momentum through disciplined fiscal management and deeper institutional reforms,” said CII Director General Chandrajit Banerjee, as quoted by PTI.The CII wants the government to use better technology to catch tax cheaters. Right now, India’s tax collection is only 17.5 per cent of GDP when you combine central and state taxes. The group suggests connecting tax returns to big purchases and using smart computer programs to spot tax dodgers in real-time.To keep debt under control, CII stressed following the government’s plan to keep debt at 50 ±1% of GDP by 2031. They also want a 3-5 year plan for money coming in and going out, making it easier for everyone to plan ahead.The industry body proposed selling government-owned companies in non-essential sectors over three years. They intitially suggested cutting government ownership to 51 per cent, then eventually to 26-33 per cent, while still pushing for complete privatisation of some companies.CII also highlighted problems with nation’s food distribution system, which serves 813 million people but faces issues with old data and waste. They want the government to focus more on education, health, job training, and climate protection, using digital tools to track how money is spent.For better fiscal management, CII recommended creating a scoring system to rate how well states and the central government handle public money. States that manage money well and make good reforms would get more funds as a reward.
