FINANCE Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said there is no proposal to impose a lockdown in the country in the wake of the West Asia war, and asked politicians to refrain from rumour mongering and creating fear psychosis among the people. The Minister also said the Government will remain on its “toes” to keep fiscal deficit under check while ensuring the burden of rising global crude oil prices does not fall on the common man. Replying to a discussion on the Finance Bill, 2026, in the Rajya Sabha, the Minister said that while several countries have increased motor fuel prices by 20-50 per cent, India has kept the rates of petrol and diesel unchanged.

 

Earlier in the day, the Government reduced excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 10 each to ensure oil marketing companies do not increase pump prices. “I think we will be following the same pattern (fiscal prudence as in past). We will be able to keep the Government fiscal stance carefully managed. Also, there will be efforts to have greater mobilisations through non-tax revenues...We shall be on our toes,” Sitharaman said.

 

Later, the Rajya Sabha returned the Finance Bill to the Lok Sabha by voice vote, thus completing the budgetary exercise for the next fiscal year, starting April 1. Parliament approves Finance Bill 2026 PARLIAMENT on Friday approved the Finance Bill 2026 with the Rajya Sabha returning it to the Lok Sabha with a voice vote, completing the budgetary exercise for the next fiscal starting April 1. The Lok Sabha had passed the bill on March 25, along with 32 amendments. The Rajya Sabha returned the bill after a brief discussion, and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman replied to queries raised by members. The Union Budget 2026-27 envisages a total expenditure of Rs 53.47 lakh crore, an increase of 7.7 per cent over the current fiscal ending March 31. The total capital expenditure proposed for the next fiscal is Rs 12.2 lakh crore. It proposes a gross tax revenue collection of Rs 44.04 lakh crore and a gross borrowing of Rs 17.2 lakh crore. The fiscal deficit for FY27 is projected at 4.3 per cent of GDP, lower than 4.4 per cent in the current fiscal.