The Union Budget 2026-27 presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday has drawn mixed reactions from chambers of commerce and archeology enthusiasts of Thoothukudi district.
DR Kodeesawaram, President, Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Thoothukudi, emphasized that the union’s budget for the financial year 2026-27 is “balanced” as it focuses on long-term growth, fiscal discipline and infrastructure development.
He added that large textile parks focused on adding value to technical textiles and public capital expenditure were significant. Public investment increased manifold from ₹ 2 lakh crore in FY 2024–25 to an allocation of ₹ 11.2 lakh crore in 2025–26. It has now increased to ₹ 12.2 crore in FY 2026-27, continuing the growth momentum.
He also highlighted the announcement to support environmentally sustainable passenger systems aimed at creating high-speed rail corridors between cities.
In addition, he proposed a postponement of the deadline for filing tax returns and sought an increase in the limit for duty-free imports of specified inputs used to process marine products for export.
Speaking about the development of the Adichanallur archaeological site, archeology enthusiast Muthalankurichi Kamarasu said that Mrs. Sitharaman laid the foundation stone for the construction of a world-class museum at Adichanallur in 2023 to display the artefacts.
“At a time when there was great hope that an international standard museum would be established at the site, the project was suddenly put on hold. This caused great disappointment among enthusiasts,” he noted.
Pointing out that the archaeological museum at Porunai, which was inaugurated by Chief Minister MK Stalin, attracted more than one million visitors in 20 days, he added that while this was encouraging, there was also a fear that the museum at Adicahanallur might be neglected and unfinished.
However, there are announcements in the current year’s budget for the development of Adichanallur archaeological site, Mr. Kamarasu demanded that steps be taken to build a museum at Adichanallur and that direct buses be introduced between Porunai Museum and Adichanallur.
Published – 01 Feb 2026 20:50 IST
