The Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed the Appropriation (No. 3) Bill, 2026 by a voice vote amid persistent protests by Opposition members. The Bill authorises expenditure from the Consolidated Fund of India towards excess spending incurred during the financial year that ended on March 31, 2023.
Amid the uproar, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also introduced the Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026 for consideration. The Bill seeks to amend the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, the Income-tax Act, 2025, and the Finance Act, 2026, with a focus on simplifying tax compliance, easing the business environment and strengthening India’s digital infrastructure ecosystem.
The Lok Sabha was later adjourned for the day after repeated disruptions caused by Opposition sloganeering. Both Houses of Parliament witnessed multiple adjournments as Opposition MPs protested over issues including the alleged embezzlement of Ram Mandir donations, police action against protesters during the Parliament March on July 20, the Cauvery water dispute and the NEET paper leak controversy. The Opposition also demanded a response from the Union Home Minister over the alleged police “firing” on protesters.
The BJP accused the Congress and its allies of deliberately disrupting Parliament and preventing discussion on key legislation. A day earlier, the Lok Sabha had passed a Bill to increase the sanctioned strength of Supreme Court judges without discussion amid similar protests.
Meanwhile, the proposed Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026 received a positive response from the technology industry. Nasscom welcomed the proposed amendments, saying they would simplify the tax exemption framework introduced under the Finance Act, 2026, for foreign companies procuring services from specified data centres in India.
The Bill removes the requirement for case-specific notifications for both foreign companies and data centres while recognising facilities operated through ownership or leasing. According to Nasscom, the move will provide greater tax certainty for foreign cloud service providers, global capability centres (GCCs) and multinational companies with operations in India.
The industry body said the changes would reduce unnecessary compliance and approval requirements, making it easier for global customers to use Indian-operated data centres. It added that moving from an approval-based framework to a condition-based regime would improve ease of doing business and strengthen India’s position as a global data centre and cloud services hub.
Besides the data centre provisions, the Bill also proposes to simplify the tax framework for eligible offshore investment funds and fund managers by reducing compliance requirements while retaining key safeguards. It also introduces fresh tax exemptions for foreign investors investing in government securities.