Union Budget for the financial year 2026-27

Ref.No.GJEPC/Union Budget/Members/2025-26 1st February 2026

TO: ALL MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL

Subject: Union Budget for the financial year 2026-27

Dear All,

The Union Budget for the financial year 2026-27 has been announced today by Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, Hon’ble Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs.

The measures announced for the Indian gems and jewellery sector are as follows:

Special Economic Zones
 Allowance of sale from SEZ to DTA units at concessional rates of duty by eligible units as a special one-time measure

Diamond  Extension of customs duty exemption on seeds used in manufacturing of lab grown diamonds till 31.03.2028.  Extension of import of duty-free sawn diamonds till 31.03.2028

Precious Metals:

Sunset-date of 31.03.2027 for the following entries is being prescribed:
Sl. No S.No. of TABLE I in notification No. 45/2025Customs Brief Description
End date 1 192 Gold dore bar, having gold content not exceeding 95% 31.03.2027 2 193 Silver dore bar having silver content not exceeding 95% 31.03.2027 3 194 (i)Gold bars, other than tola bars, bearing manufacturer’s or refiner’s engraved serial number and weight expressed in metric units, and gold coins having gold content not below 99.5%, imported by the eligible passenger (ii)Gold in any form other than (i), including tola bars and ornaments, but excluding ornaments studded with stones or pearls 31.03.2027 4 195 Silver, in any form including ornaments, but excluding ornaments studded with stones or pearls, imported by the eligible passenger 31.03.2027

studded with stones or pearls 31.03.2027 4 195 Silver, in any form including ornaments, but excluding ornaments studded with stones or pearls, imported by the eligible passenger 31.03.2027

GST  GST rules been amended to extend provision of provisional refund arising out of inverted duty structure.

E-Commerce:
 Removal of the current value cap of ₹10 lakh per consignment on courier exports.  Improvement in Handling of rejected and returned consignments with effective use of technology for identifying such consignments.

Banking:
 Setting up a “High Level Committee on Banking for Viksit Bharat”, to comprehensively review the sector and align it with India’s next phase of growth, while safeguarding financial stability, inclusion and consumer protection.

Authorised Economic Operators
 Enhancement of duty deferral period for Tier 2 and Tier 3 AEOs from 15 days to 30 days.
 Allowance of eligible manufacturer-importers the same duty deferral facility till 31.03.2028 further encouraging them to get themselves accredited as a full-fledged Tier 3- AEO in due course.

Baggage Rules 2026  Modified the rules to allow import of precious metal jewellery up to 40 grams for females and 20 grams for males, replacing the earlier value-based limits of ₹1 lakh and ₹50,000 respectively. These rules do not apply to bullion.

Industrial Clusters:
 Introduction of a scheme to revive 200 legacy industrial clusters to improve their cost competitiveness and efficiency through infrastructure and technology upgradation.

Industrial Clusters:
 Introduction of a scheme to revive 200 legacy industrial clusters to improve their cost competitiveness and efficiency through infrastructure and technology upgradation.

MSME Segment:

Equity Support:
 Introduction of a dedicated ₹10,000 crore SME Growth Fund, to create future Champions, incentivizing enterprises based on select criteria.  Top up the Self-Reliant India Fund set up in 2021, with ₹2,000 crore to continue support to micro enterprises and maintain their access to risk capital.

Liquidity Support With TReDS, more than ₹7 lakh crore has been made available to MSMEs. To leverage its full potential:, following has been announced: (i) mandate TReDS as the transaction settlement platform for all purchases from MSMEs by CPSEs, serving as a benchmark for other corporates;
(ii) introduce a credit guarantee support mechanism through CGTMSE for invoice discounting on TReDS platform;

(iii) link GeM with TReDS for sharing information with financiers about government purchases from MSMEs, encouraging cheaper and quicker financing;
(iv) introduce TReDS receivables as asset-backed securities, helping develop a secondary market, enhancing liquidity and settlement of transactions.

Professional Support:
Facilitation of Professional Institutions such as ICAI, ICSI, ICMAI to design short-term, modular courses and practical tools to develop a cadre of ‘Corporate Mitras’, especially in Tier-II and Tier-III towns. These accredited para-professionals will help MSMEs meet compliance requirements at affordable costs.

tical tools to develop a cadre of ‘Corporate Mitras’, especially in Tier-II and Tier-III towns. These accredited para-professionals will help MSMEs meet compliance requirements at affordable costs.

Thanking you,

With best regards,

SABYASACHI RAY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR