Banking Awareness of 1, 2, 3 and 4 February 2026

Topic: Corporates/Companies

1. Steel Authority of India Limited has been awarded the Great Place to Work certification.

• The certification has been awarded for third consecutive year and for the period from February 2026 to February 2027.
• The certification has been awarded following a comprehensive assessment by the Great Place to Work Institute of India.
• The Great Place to Work Institute is a global authority on workplace culture.
• It honors organizations that deliver exceptional employee experiences.
• SAIL demonstrated a significant rise in its TRUST INDEX score.
• TRUST INDEX score is an indicator of the percentage of employees giving positive feedback during the assessment.
• Great Place To Work Certification requires minimum 70% positive employee feedback via the Trust Index Survey and a Culture Audit.
• Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) is one of India’s largest public sector steelmakers.

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

2. Union Budget 2026–27 presented with Focus on Three Kartavyas.

• On February 1, 2026, Union Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman presented her ninth consecutive Union Budget for the financial year (FY) 2026-27.
• She is also the first person to present nine consecutive Union Budgets.
• The Union Budget 2026–27 focus on three Kartavyas to accelerate India’s journey towards Viksit Bharat.
• It was stated that the first Kartavya aims to accelerate and sustain economic growth by improving productivity, competitiveness, and resilience amid volatile global conditions.
• The second Kartavya was described as fulfilling people’s aspirations and building their capacity so that citizens become active partners in India’s prosperity.
• The third Kartavya, aligned with the vision of Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas, was outlined to ensure inclusive access to resources, opportunities, and amenities for all regions and communities.
• The Budget was described as the first prepared in Kartavya Bhawan and was highlighted as a Yuva Shakti-driven Budget inspired by ideas from the Viksit Bharat Young Leaders Dialogue 2026.

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

3. A ₹10,000 crore SME Growth Fund introduced to create future champions.

• A dedicated ₹10,000 crore SME Growth Fund was introduced in the Union Budget 2026–27 to support the growth of future MSME champions.
• The announcement was made under the first Kartavya.
• MSMEs were recognised as a vital engine of growth, employment generation, and innovation in the Indian economy.
• Equity support was proposed through the SME Growth Fund, with enterprises incentivized based on select performance and growth criteria.
• Finance Minister also proposed injecting an additional ₹2,000 crore into the Self-Reliant India Fund, established in 2021, to continue supporting micro-enterprises and ensure their access to risk capital.
• Liquidity support was strengthened by leveraging the TReDS platform, through which over ₹7 lakh crore has already been made available to MSMEs.
• Credit guarantee support through CGTMSE was proposed for invoice discounting on the TReDS platform to reduce financing risks.
• GeM was proposed to be linked with TReDS to facilitate information sharing with financiers and enable quicker and cheaper credit access.
• Professional support was announced through development of ‘Corporate Mitras’ by professional institutes to help MSMEs meet compliance needs affordably.

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

4. Safe Harbour Threshold for IT Services enhanced to ₹2,000 Crore.

• The Union Budget 2026–27 was presented with a major reform for the Information Technology services sector.
• India’s leadership in software development, IT-enabled services, and contract R&D services was highlighted in the Budget speech.
• All related IT services were proposed to be clubbed under a single category named Information Technology Services.
• A uniform safe harbour margin of 15.5% was proposed to be applied across all IT services.
• The threshold for availing safe harbour benefits was enhanced significantly from ₹300 crore to ₹2,000 crore.
• The safe harbour approval process was proposed to be automated and rule-driven without tax officer intervention.
• Once opted, the safe harbour can be continued for five consecutive years at the company’s discretion.
• A fast-track Unilateral Advance Pricing Agreement process was introduced for IT services companies.
• The APA completion timeline was proposed to be two years, extendable by six months on taxpayer’s request.
• Modified return filing benefits were extended to entities entering APAs with associated enterprises.

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

5. The Union Budget proposes a reduction in customs duty on goods imported for personal use.

• The tariff rate on such dutiable imports will be lowered from 20 percent to 10 percent.
• Basic customs duty will be fully exempted on 17 identified drugs and medicines.
• Cancer patients will benefit significantly from this measure.
• Seven more rare diseases will be included under the duty exemption on personal imports of drugs and medicines.
• Food for Special Medical Purposes (FSMP) required for these diseases will also be covered.
• The Budget proposes changes to baggage clearance rules for international travelers.
• Duty-free allowances will be enhanced under the revised rules.
• Clearer rules will be introduced for temporary import or export of personal goods.
• Honest taxpayers can now settle their dues and close cases by paying an additional amount in lieu of penalty.
• Several reforms are proposed to simplify customs processes.
• The measures aim to ensure faster movement of goods across borders.
• The duty deferral period for Tier 2 and Tier 3 Authorised Economic Operators will be extended from the existing 15 days to 30 days.
• Eligible manufacturer-importers will also receive duty deferral benefits.
• The validity period of advance rulings issued by Customs will be extended from three years to five years.
• Government agencies will be encouraged to use AEO accreditation for faster clearances and importers with reliable and long-standing supply chains will be treated as low risk.
• Routine cargo verification for such importers will be minimized.

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

6. The Union Budget 2026–27 emphasises on expanding manufacturing in seven strategic and frontier sectors.

• These sectors are seen as critical for long-term economic growth.
• A major thrust is given to the biopharmaceutical sector.
• The Budget proposes the Biopharma SHAKTI initiative, which seeks to make India a global biopharma manufacturing hub.
• Regarding the semiconductor sector, India Semiconductor Mission 2.0 is announced in the Budget.
• The mission will support domestic production of semiconductor equipment and manufacturing of critical semiconductor materials.
• Design of full-stack Indian semiconductor intellectual property will be encouraged.
• The Electronics Components Manufacturing Scheme will receive higher funding.
• The scheme was launched in April 2025. The Union Budget 2026-27 proposes to increase its outlay from ₹22,919 crore to ₹40,000 crore.
• Union Budget proposes to assist the mineral-rich States of Odisha, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu in setting up dedicated Rare Earth Corridors.
• The corridors will promote mining, processing, research and manufacturing.
• The Budget highlights the importance of capital goods manufacturing.
• The Budget proposes a dedicated scheme for container manufacturing with an allocation of ₹10,000 crore spread over a five-year period.
• For the labour-intensive Textile Sector, it proposes an Integrated Programme with 5 sub-parts (National Fibre Scheme, Textile Expansion and Employment Scheme, National Handloom and Handicraft programme, Tex-Eco Initiative and Samarth 2.0.
• Union Budget proposes to establish Mega Textile Parks in challenge mode.
• The Tex-Eco initiative will promote sustainable textile production. Samarth 2.0 will upgrade the textile skilling ecosystem.
• The Budget proposes the Mahatma Gandhi Gram Swaraj initiative to strengthen khadi, handloom and handicrafts.

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

7. Customs and Central Excise proposals announced to simplify tariff structure.

• Budget proposals for Customs and Central Excise were announced with the objective of simplifying the tariff structure and supporting domestic manufacturing, said Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs while presenting the Union Budget 2026-27.
• It was stated that long-standing customs duty exemptions on items manufactured in India or with negligible imports will be removed to rationalise duties.
• Effective duty rates were proposed to be incorporated directly into the tariff schedule to simplify determination of applicable customs duties.
• To promote exports, the limit for duty-free import of inputs for seafood processing was proposed to be increased from 1% to 3% of the Free on Board (FOB) value of the previous year’s export turnover.
• Duty-free imports of specified inputs were extended to Shoe Uppers exports, along with an increase in export timelines from six months to one year for leather and textile exporters.
• Energy transition measures included extending customs duty exemptions to capital goods used for lithium-ion cell manufacturing for energy storage systems.
• Basic customs duty exemption was proposed for sodium antimonate imports used in the manufacture of solar glass to support renewable energy.
• Customs duty exemptions for nuclear power projects were extended till 2035 and expanded to cover all nuclear plants irrespective of capacity.
• Exemptions were proposed for aircraft manufacturing components, critical mineral processing equipment, and parts used in defence-sector MRO activities.
• A one-time concessional duty measure was proposed to allow SEZ manufacturing units to sell limited quantities in the Domestic Tariff Area amid global trade disruptions.

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

8. Union Budget 2026-27 proposed ‘Bharat-VISTAAR’ (Virtually Integrated System to Access Agricultural Resources).

• ‘Bharat-VISTAAR’ is a multilingual AI-based agricultural support system.
• It will improve farm productivity, enhance farmer decision making and reduce risk through customized advisory support.
• The Union Budget 2026–27 emphasizes artificial intelligence and emerging technologies.
• Bharat-VISTAAR will digitally connect AgriStack platforms with ICAR’s agricultural practice databases.
• The Budget highlights the Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics sector as a major contributor to India’s Orange Economy.
• The AVGC industry will require nearly two million skilled professionals by 2030.
• AVGC Content Creator Labs will be set up in 15,000 secondary schools and 500 colleges.
• The Union Budget proposes to support the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies, Mumbai in establishing these labs.
• A new National Institute of Design is proposed to strengthen design education in eastern India.
• The Budget proposes a High-Powered Education to Employment and Enterprise Standing Committee to study the impact of AI and emerging technologies on employment trends.
• It will also assess future skill requirements. It will also recommend corrective policy measures.