Govt begins preparations for Union Budget 2027-28; pre-Budget meetings from Oct 12

The government has started preparations for the Union Budget 2027-28, with the Finance Ministry setting October 12, 2026 as the start of pre-Budget meetings. The meetings will help finalise the Revised Estimates for 2026-27 and prepare the Budget Estimates for 2027-28.

Preparation for the Union Budget 2027-28 will start its pre-budget meeting phase starting from October 12, 2026. Ministries & departments have been requested to provide the necessary information through the UBIS (Union Budget Information System) portal by October 6, 2026. The meeting will be held with regard to making estimates of expenditure and revenue before presenting the Budget.

The Finance Ministry's Budget Division has scheduled pre-Budget meetings chaired by the Secretary (Expenditure). The meetings will cover the Revised Estimates (RE) for 2026-27 and Budget Estimates (BE) for 2027-28.

The Department of Economic Affairs has published the schedule for these meetings on its website. The exercise is part of the regular process used to work out the government's spending requirements for the coming financial year.

Central ministries and departments must enter the required information in the Union Budget Information System, or UBIS, by October 6, 2026. Supporting documents for verification purposes have been requested by the Ministry of Finance as well..

The estimates are expected to take into account actual spending, ongoing commitments and expected requirements. The government has also asked departments to prepare realistic expenditure and revenue estimates instead of seeking allocations without supporting requirements.

The meetings will help the government review the funding requirements of ministries and departments.

After discussions, provisional expenditure ceilings will be indicated to the concerned ministries and departments. Final expenditure ceilings will then be decided after considering the government's expenditure priorities and receipt projections.

The process will also cover the government's revenue estimates. The Budget exercise includes estimates of central taxes and duties, with inputs from the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC).

The October meetings do not mean that the final Budget proposals have been decided. They are part of the process used to assess spending requirements and available resources.

The Finance Ministry will continue working on the estimates after the meetings. The Budget Estimates for 2027-28 will be provisionally finalised after the pre-Budget discussions, while the final allocations will depend on expenditure priorities and revenue projections.

This also means that specific tax changes, new schemes or individual allocations should not be treated as final simply because they are discussed during the preparation stage.

After the pre-Budget meetings, the Finance Ministry will continue reviewing the spending requirements of ministries and departments. The government will also assess revenue projections before settling the expenditure limits for 2027-28.

The figures can still change during the later stages of Budget preparation. The final allocations will be presented when the Union Budget 2027-28 is announced.

For investors, the important developments will come later as the Budget takes shape. Areas such as government spending, taxation, infrastructure allocation, subsidies and measures affecting businesses can influence different parts of the economy.

However, the current preparation process does not confirm any particular tax change or sector allocation. Those details will become clearer only when the government releases the final Budget proposals.

The preparation of the Union Budget 2027-28 has now entered into an official phase, with ministries providing their estimates and pre-budget consultations scheduled to begin from October 12. This process would aid the government in determining its spending requirements and revenue forecasts prior to the preparation of the Budget.

For now, the October meetings are part of the preparation process, not an announcement of final Budget measures.

Ans. Pre-Budget meetings for Union Budget 2027-28 will begin on October 12, 2026. The meetings are scheduled to continue through mid-November 2026.

Ans. The Budget Estimates for 2027-28 will be worked out through the ongoing Budget preparation process, including the pre-Budget meetings starting October 12.

Ans. The meetings allow the Finance Ministry to review the spending and revenue requirements of ministries and departments before finalising the Budget Estimates for 2027-28.

Ans. Budget Estimates are the government's planned receipts and expenditure for the next financial year. For 2027-28, these estimates will be worked on during the Budget preparation process.

Ans. No. The Pre-Budget meetings are part of the preparation process. Specific tax changes and allocations will be known only when the government finalises and presents its Budget proposals." so put where?

Sources

• Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance - Budget Division

• Department of Economic Affairs - Orders and Notices

• Union Budget 2026-27 summary, Ministry of Finance/PIB