New Delhi, Feb 1: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday proposed to set up a Rs 10,000 crore fund to create champion small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to boost the economy.

Presenting Union Budget 2026-27, she also proposed a scheme for container manufacturing to create globally competitive ecosystem.

She stated that the government recognises MSMEs as a vital engine of growth, and proposes a three-pronged approach to help them grow as champions. Equity support.

"I propose to introduce a dedicated 10,000 crores SME growth fund to create future champions, incentivising enterprises based on select criteria. I also propose to top up the self-reliant India fund set up in 2021 with 2,000 crores to continue support to micro-enterprises and maintain their access to risk capital," she said.

More than Rs 7 lakh crore has been made available to MSMEs through liquidity support.

"To leverage its full potential, I propose four measures. One: mandate TREDS as the transaction settlement platform for all purchases from MSMEs by CPSEs. Survey as a benchmark for other corporates. Two: introduce a credit guarantee support mechanism through CGT-MSC for invoice discounting on the TREDS platform. Three: link GEN with TREDS for sharing information with financiers about government purchases from SMEs, encouraging cheaper and quicker financing. Four: Introduce TREDS receivables as asset-backed securities, helping develop a secondary market, enhancing liquidity and settlement of transactions," The Minister said.

Sitharaman also noted that the government shall continue to focus on developing infrastructure in cities with over 5 lakh population, that is, Tier II and Tier III cities, which are expanded to become growth centres.

Public capital expenditure has increased manifold from Rs 2 lakh crore in 2014-15 to an allocation of Rs 11.2 lakh crore. In this coming year, that is, this financial year 2026-27, I propose to increase it to Rs 12.2 lakh crore to continue the momentum.