India’s Travel Budget: Small Marketing Spend, a Tax Win, Infrastructure Push

India’s Union Budget on Sunday offered mixed signals for the travel industry: a token global tourism marketing allocation that remains far below historical levels, but meaningful tax relief for outbound travelers and a significant infrastructure push.

India spent just $3.5 million on global tourism marketing last fiscal year, official documents show — far more than the initial budget of $361,000, but still small for a country of India’s size.

The government has repeated the pattern for the current year, which ends March 31. For 2025–26, it has earmarked INR 30.7 million ($335,000) for global tourism promotion, with projected spending rising to INR 434.8 million ($4.7 million) by March 31.

For 2026-2027, the Union Budget fixes the global tourism promotion budget at INR 35 million ($381,702).

There is no allocation for domestic tourism promotion.

“While the Indian inbound industry, was expecting some help from the government to