I built an interactive dashboard to decode 6 years of Union Budget data. Here's what I found.
The headline number? India's budget grew from ₹34.8 lakh crores (2021-22) to ₹53.5 lakh crores (2026-27)—a 53% jump in five years.
But the real story is in the shifts happening underneath.
The Big Three: Where 60% of Your Money Goes
Interest Payments — ₹14.04 lakh crores (26.3%) Before a single road gets built, over a quarter of the budget services debt. Let that sink in.
Infrastructure & Development — ₹10.59 lakh crores (19.8%) Roads, rails, telecom, housing. The visible spending.
Defence — ₹7.98 lakh crores (14.9%) ₹7.85 lakh crores for 2026-27 alone—up 64% since 2021-22.
Three Trends That Should Be on Your Radar
📈 Capital Expenditure is Rising The revenue-to-capital ratio shifted from 84:16 to 77:23 over six years. Translation? Less on salaries and subsidies, more on highways and factories. Asset creation > consumption spending.
🛣️ Infrastructure is the Darling Roads + Railways + Housing combined: ₹2.82 lakh crores (2021-22) → ₹6.77 lakh crores (2026-27). That's 139% growth. If you're in construction, logistics, or real estate—this is your macro tailwind.
💰 Finance Ministry = 37% of Total Budget At ₹19.72 lakh crores, Finance dwarfs everyone. But strip out interest payments (₹14 lakh crores) and state transfers (₹3.94 lakh crores), and operational spending is modest. The Ministry is essentially a pass-through entity.
What's Surprisingly Small?
Healthcare (AYUSH + Health): 0.17% — Yes, you read that right
Culture: ₹3,900 crores — Less than some Mumbai apartments
Environment: Under 2% — Climate commitments, meet budget reality
The Dashboard
I've put together an interactive Tableau visualization covering all 100+ departments across 6 budget years. Slice by ministry, category, or year. Compare revenue vs capital. Spot your own patterns.
🔗 Explore the Dashboard → (Best viewed on desktop full screen mode)
Numbers don't lie, but they do hide. Sometimes all they need is a good chart.
What surprised you most about these allocations? Drop a comment—I'd love to hear from fellow number-nerds.