With sabka vikas as its theme, the Union Budget 2025-26 aims at stimulating balanced growth of all regions. Accelerating economic growth and securing inclusive development are, indeed, appropriate goals for a developing country like India.
However, in an era marked by climate change and environmental degradation, they may not be sufficient. The global climate emergency mandates that climate change mitigation and adaptation be made central to India’s economic and social policy frameworks – and in this aspect, the Budget is found wanting.
Budget 2025-26 represents a significant stride towards advancing resilience, yet stops short of embracing a comprehensive, whole-of-government approach to climate resilience. To truly secure India’s development trajectory, every critical sector – agriculture, urban development, energy, and employment – must be anchored in a strategy innately informed by climate action. Without such a unified framework, progress remains susceptible to increasingly frequent and severe climate shocks.
By making climate action a fiscal priority, India can safeguard its hard-earned economic gains and pave the way to a Viksit Bharat that symbolises a developed economy as well as a society resilient enough to take on future climate risks.
