Union Budget 2026: Will retail media finally get its policy moment?

It is no longer news that over the last few years, retail media has evolved from being a pure conversion lever to becoming a central pillar of media strategy for brands. What began as an efficiency-led channel focussed on last-click outcomes has steadily moved up the priority list for marketers, reshaping how budgets are planned, deployed and measured. Last year proved to be a clear watershed moment. Growth rates for retail media significantly outpaced other digital channels, reinforcing its position not as an experimental add-on but as a core investment priority for brands chasing measurable and accountable returns. 

Industry estimates suggest that India’s retail media advertising revenues crossed ₹24,000 crore in 2025, with projections placing the market close to ₹30,000 crore in 2026, potentially accounting for nearly 15% of the country’s total advertising revenues. Increasingly, brands are treating retail media not as a performance silo, but as an integral link in the broader commerce funnel. 

However, despite this strong market momentum, successive Union Budgets have stopped short of offering dedicated policy support or fiscal recognition for retail media. There has been no formal acknowledgement of retail media as a distinct category within the digital economy, no clarity on GST treatment or tax parity with other advertising formats, and no targetted incentives aligned with data-driven commerce ecosystems that could help brands and platforms scale investments with confidence.

According to Mayank Shah, Chief Marketing Officer, Parle Products, for the retail media ecosystem, the Union Budget is an opportunity to strengthen consumption fundamentals while enabling data-led growth.

“Measures that boost disposable incomes, especially in price-sensitive urban and rural markets, will translate into stronger demand and more meaningful shopper engagement on retail platforms. Continued investments in digital infrastructure, commerce enablers and supply-chain efficiency will help retail media evolve into a credible, performance-driven channel, while allowing brands to invest sustainably in long-term consumer relationships,” he shared.

As the industry inches closer to the Union Budget this year, the debate around what realistic and meaningful support for retail media could look like has begun to sharpen.

Arjun Ranga, Managing Director, Cycle Pure Agarbathi, pointed out that while recent policy support has helped stabilise MSMEs, the focus must now shift towards long-term competitiveness. He noted that high compliance costs and operational inefficiencies continue to weigh on traditional manufacturing, and calls for simplified regulations and tangible support for R&D, particularly in sustainable raw materials. According to Ranga, enabling eco-friendly packaging infrastructure and accelerating digital adoption at the MSME level will be critical to improving rural penetration and unlocking the next phase of retail growth.

Shivendra Nigam, CFO, Cantabil said, “For Budget 2026, we believe it is vital to extend momentum towards the retail sector, an industry that contributes nearly 10% to India’s GDP and stands at a pivotal point of growth with a population of nearly 1.5 billion. A unified Retail Policy could act as a key enabler by simplifying regulations, easing compliance, and improving the overall ease of doing business. A unified framework would help both established and emerging brands operate more efficiently and unlock the sector’s true potential in the coming decade.”

Echoing similar sentiment, Anupam Bansal, Executive Director, Liberty Shoes, stated, “As India prepares for the upcoming Union Budget, it is important that fiscal policy supports both demand and supply dynamics across the consumer and retail ecosystem. Measures that enhance disposable income can help stimulate consumption, while affordable financing, easier access to credit and relief on operating costs can strengthen the broader retail framework.”

The Policy Levers Retail Media Is Waiting For

Industry leaders and marketers believe retail media’s next phase of growth will depend as much on policy clarity as on the strength of India’s broader retail and manufacturing ecosystem. As per several industry leaders and marketers, expectations from this year’s Budget include formal recognition of retail media as an advertising category, clearer tax and GST frameworks, standardised measurement and attribution norms, and stronger digital and data infrastructure.

The industry believes such measures would bring much-needed predictability to retail media investments, encourage wider participation across brand sizes, and help the ecosystem move from fragmented experimentation to a more mature and accountable growth phase.

For many consumer-facing businesses, these expectations are closely tied to the health of the broader manufacturing and MSME ecosystem.

A similar theme emerges from the beauty and personal care segment. Ankit Virmani, Director, Esskay Beauty Resources, urges the government to rationalise GST and reduce customs duties on essential imports and raw materials, arguing that such relief is crucial to keeping quality products accessible at the grassroots level. 

He also highlighted the need to accelerate formalisation within the MSME ecosystem, suggesting that linking Skill Council certifications with incentives could improve compliance, standardise service quality and generate sustainable employment across the sector.

According to Ekansh Garg, Co-founder and CEO of Cravicious Foods, retail media should be viewed as part of India’s digital commerce backbone rather than merely an advertising layer. He stressed the importance of interoperable data systems between brands and retailers, public investment in digital cataloguing and demand forecasting tools, and fair access to retail media inventory so smaller food brands are not priced out of visibility.

The Marketers’ Wishlist For Retail Media

From a marketing POV, the emphasis is firmly on recognising how far retail media has already come. Ravanan N, CEO, Oneindia, noted that the retail media ecosystem has clearly moved from experimentation to scale, and believes the Budget should reflect this shift. He pointed out the need for clarity around data usage, measurement standards and consumer privacy, along with a more enabling capital environment. 

Media planners have echoed the need for predictability over incentives. Shrikant Shenoy, AVP, Lodestar UM, believes that what the ecosystem needs most is confidence—confidence that retail media environments will remain stable and well-regulated parts of the digital economy. Continued government backing for digital infrastructure and interoperable payment systems, he notes, indirectly strengthens retail media by increasing the volume of measurable, high-intent transactions that brands can plan, buy and evaluate within closed-loop systems.

Adding to this, Vejay Anand, Senior Advisor at Prequate and Marketing Strategist, describes retail media as being at a tipping point. With the ecosystem expected to reach $3 billion by 2027, he argues that this Budget presents a rare opportunity to lay the foundation for sustainable growth. Anand calls for formal recognition of retail media under the Digital India framework, tax parity through consistent GST application, and industry-wide measurement standards developed in partnership with government bodies. He also highlighted the role of PLI-style incentives for analytics, data centres and AI-driven personalisation, along with stronger MSME and kirana enablement, to ensure the ecosystem grows inclusively.

It is clear that brands, marketers and industry experts are increasingly aligned in their expectations from this year’s Union Budget for a framework that recognises retail media as a serious and strategic pillar of India’s advertising ecosystem. With clearer policies, tax certainty and stronger digital infrastructure, retail media has the potential to move decisively from a high-performing channel to a long-term growth engine for brands across categories and sizes. Whether Budget 2026 delivers that clarity remains to be seen. But with the sector now firmly at an inflection point, the decisions taken this year could determine how quickly retail media matures. All eyes, for now, are on what the Budget ultimately holds for the future of retail media in India.