V Anantha Nageswaran, Chief Economic Advisor, Government of India, delivering the keynote address at The Hindu businessline Decoding the budget 2026-2027, in New Delhi, on February 6, 2026. | Photo Credit: BIJOY GHOSH

Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran set the tone for businessline’s annual ‘Decoding the Budget 2027-27’ event on Friday evening by expanding on the paradox he had underlined in the Economic Survey of India’s high economic growth that is pitted against a volatile global system.

In the deliberations that followed, the CEA laid out the issues in context of the Economic Survey, the Union Budget and the two emerging mega free trade agreements with the European Union and the United States that were unpacked by the V Vualnam, Secretary, Department of Expenditure, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs Anuradha Thakur and expert panelists in the two discussions on ‘Micro-Economic Impact of the Budget’ and ‘Budget and Trade’.

Nageswaran began by quoting businessline Editor Raghuvir Srinivasan’s reference, in his speech, to the past week that witnessed unprecedented economic activity beginning with India-EU FTA negotiations coming to a fruition.

“We had the Indo-European Union trade deal followed by the Economic Survey, the Union Budget, the announcement of the contours of an India-US trade deal, then the monetary policy action in India. And all these statements were all pertaining to what’s happening domestically while a lot is simultaneously happening outside the country with respect to the financial markets, the volatility we are seeing in commodities like gold, silver, maybe also in bitcoin and the stock market upheavals related to developments in AI-related matters,” Nageswaran said, adding that these scenario are what had been pointed out in the Economic Survey.

He said the global order post-World War II has changed, and the world has come full circle; for India, it means the policy direction between 1947 and 1980, with a more protectionist outlook, is “back in fashion” with a difference. Of course, he said, import substitution and indigenisation cannot be pursued in the manner it was in the earlier decades post-Independence because India simultaneously needs to be externally competitive. The Union Budget, he said, meets the demands of an emerging global order with more indigenisation and resilience, yet with an eye on global competitiveness.

According to DEA Secretary Anuradha Thakur, a major thrust in economic policymaking has been about fiscal prudence. “The focus has been on keeping macroeconomic fundamentals sound. This is what investors look at globally. We are conscious of the need to attract capital, technology and attract innovation, which is so important for economic growth,” she said.

Secretary, Department of Expenditure, V Vualnam talked at length about fiscal prudence, enhancement of capital expenditure, and infrastructure push, ‘atmanirbharta’ and a focus on research and innovation.

Businessline Associate Editor Shishir Sinha led panelists including R Kavita Rao, Director, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, Praveen K Jha, Professor of Economics in JNU, Rajani Sinha, Chief Economist, CareEdge Ratings, and Sitikantha Pattanaik, Chief Economist, NABARD dwell on different aspects of government finances in the discussion on ‘Micro-Economic Impact of the Budget’. Praveen Jha initiated a lively discussion on the scepticism about growth numbers, while Kavita Rao talked about hoping for higher inflation so as to get a nominal GDP of 10 per cent.

In the discussion on ‘Budget and Trade’ businessline Associate Editor Amiti Sen quizzed panelists Jyoti Vij, Director General FICCI, Bharat Kaushal, Executive Chairman Hitachi India, Prerna Prabhakar, Fellow, Centre for Social and Economic Progress, and trade expert Biswajit Dhar on whether India be able utilize the new trade agreements and the Budget proposals provide the necessary buoyancy to India’s manufacturing and export sector.

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Published on February 6, 2026