Guwahati: The Assam Budget 2025–26, presented by Finance Minister Ajanta Neog, was widely praised by key industry bodies, including the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Assam Real Estate and Infrastructure Developers’ Association (AREIDA) and the Tea Association of India (TAI) for its progressive stance on women's empowerment, real estate growth, and initiatives to revitalise the tea sector. However, opinions of business leaders are divided as sectors take in the Rs 2.63 lakh crore expenditure plan with a projected shortfall of Rs 620.27 crore. This is because sectors are identifying areas of concern and areas that require more significant structural reforms.
Women-Centric Development: A Transformative Push
Among the most notable features is the historic focus on women's welfare, with specific schemes such as Lakhpati Baideo, Women Start-up Fund, and Mukhya Mantri Mahila Awas Yojana. Industry associations like the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) have welcomed these initiatives, citing that they not only tackle social equity but potentially unleash fresh entrepreneurial energy, particularly in rural Assam.
"The government's emphasis on women entrepreneurship and direct financial subsidies is a step towards inclusive growth," said Sarat Kumar Jain, ICC Assam Chairman. Industry representatives seek clarity on fund allocation and tracking to prevent system losses and ensure benefits reach the grassroots level.
Real Estate Growth Boosted
Further, robust measures for women's safety—including district-level Sakhi One-Stop Centres, Shakti Sadan shelter homes and enhanced policing—mark a significant shift toward gender-inclusive governance.
However, experts noted the lack of a more comprehensive industrial policy on mainstreaming women entrepreneurs in traditional sectors such as manufacturing and technology is a lost opportunity.
A Market-Driven Approach but Limited by Land Reform Bottlenecks
The Assam Real Estate and Infrastructure Developers Association (AREIDA) has welcomed measures that are all set to unlock tremendous scope for real estate, such as new township projects in Jagiroad and Palashbari with funding of Rs 8,000 crore and zonal land valuation for transparency.
However, AREIDA President P.K. Sharma cautioned that unless there are clear, time-bound land reforms and prompt single-window clearances, these projects could get delayed, watering down investor sentiment.
"Detecting unsuitable agricultural land for industry is forward-looking, but if it's bureaucratic in implementation, it could never materialise into real projects," stated Sharma.
Additionally, as the urban-based development such as Mini Secretariat at Barak Valley and Raj Bhavan at Tezpur will drive regional property demand, it is noted that there is a lack of full-fledged urban master plan for managing follow-on population flow, transportation, and environmental protection.
AREIDA also welcomed the extension of the Apon Ghar housing scheme to PSU and contractual employees, which is expected to inject fresh capital into the housing market.
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Additionally, plans to identify non-agricultural land for industrial use and the relocation of the 10th Assam Police Battalion from Guwahati to Sonapur, freeing prime land for urban development, were witnessed as significant enablers for Assam’s real estate expansion.
Tea Industry: Relief Measures Mask Deep Structural Issues
The Tea Association of India (TAI) welcomed efforts like agricultural income tax holiday extension, Rs 150 crore waiver of electricity dues, and Rs 342 crore direct cash transfer to 6.8 lakh workers. Moreover, the envisioned AI-enabled, blockchain-based Tea Auction System is seen as a future-forward step for price transparency and global competitiveness.
Yet industry insiders warn the budget’s focus on welfare and technology overlooks the urgent need for structural reforms, including mechanisation, replantation funding and worker upskilling to counter declining productivity and ageing plantations. "Though the blockchain project is futuristic, realities on the ground such as poor field management and low yields are not addressed," said Dipanjol Deka, TAI Secretary, Assam Branch.
Moreover, the absence of strategies to counter declining international tea prices and export competitiveness exposes the state's flagship industry to risks in the long term. Although setting up a High-Powered Industrial Promotion Board is intended to alleviate investor fears, the lack of sector-specific sops or industrial parks for sectors such as IT, pharma, and food processing — instrumental to Assam's industrial agenda — is viewed as a significant gap. Assam's vision to emerge as a manufacturing hub needs more forceful tax breaks, plug-and-play industrial estates, and logistics facilities, all of which are less debated in this year's budget.
The Assam Budget 2025-26 outlines a vision for the future, but business executives warn that execution risks, red-tapism, and the absence of detailed policy guidelines can dilute its transformational potential.
"The budget gives the canvas, but without effective policy implementation, the painting can remain unfinished," according to P.K. Sharma of AREIDA.
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