Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, speaking at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum on Tuesday, declined to say whether the 2026 Union Budget would alter long‑term capital gains (LTCG) tax or securities transaction tax (STT). She said it was too early to comment, as budget preparations were just beginning.
Earlier this week, RBI introduced a special window for oil marketing companies to meet dollar demand outside the spot market and tightened foreign‑exchange derivative rules, lifting the rupee by about 1% on Monday. The RBI aims to curb volatility rather than fix the currency at a set rate.
SBI Research, in a February report, urged the government to scrap the LTCG tax on equity for foreign investors, proposing a 2‑ to 3‑year holding period to anchor hot money. The report cites that foreign portfolio investors sold Rs 44,166 crore of shares in October, taking total equity outflows in 2026 to Rs 3.04 lakh crore.
The 2026 Budget, slated for June, is expected to retain the 12.5% LTCG rate for foreign equity investors, mirroring the 2024 framework, while continuing the current STT structure for listed shares and equity mutual funds.
Sitharaman also highlighted investment opportunities in infrastructure, semiconductors, renewable energy and emerging technologies, noting that the National Infrastructure Pipeline has grown to over USD 4.5 trillion and that domestic private investment is gaining momentum across several sectors.