As Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman prepares to present the Union Budget 2026–27 on February 1, expectations are high across India’s technology and digital economy landscape. From education and manufacturing to AI, cybersecurity, and innovation-led growth, industry leaders believe the Budget can accelerate Viksit Bharat@2047. Here’s what top voices shared with NCN ahead of the Budget.
Mr. Alok Dubey, Chief Financial Officer, Acer India
“As the technology sector moves from recovery to scale, the Union Budget 2026–27 has an important role to play in strengthening India’s position in the global digital and AI economy. The industry will continue to look for policy momentum around domestic electronics manufacturing, including deeper support for component ecosystems and PLI-led value creation. Equally important is a sharper focus on AI, through investments in compute infrastructure, data centres, R&D, and large-scale skilling, to enable responsible and widespread adoption across enterprises, education, and public services. Measures that improve the affordability of computing devices and reduce input cost pressures will further accelerate digital inclusion and technology penetration across emerging markets. A balanced approach that aligns manufacturing depth with AI-led innovation will be critical for the sustained growth of India’s IT and technology sector.”
Mr. Rajeev Singh, Managing Director, BenQ India and South Asia
“The Union Budget 2026–27 will boldly advance India’s Viksit Bharat@2047 vision by prioritizing transformative investments in education technology, youth skilling, and middle-class prosperity—essential catalysts for the consumer electronics and edtech sectors. As a pioneer in monitors, projectors, and interactive flat panels (IFPs) that power modern homes, hybrid offices, and smart classrooms across the nation, we anticipate a comprehensive strategy that aligns fiscal measures with our sector’s growth trajectory.
In particular, we foresee a substantial allocation under PM SHRI and Samagra Shiksha schemes to revolutionize smart classrooms, mandating at least 50% local procurement of IFPs and projectors to equip 1.5 lakh schools and transform hybrid learning for 20 million students, enabling brands like ours to deploy over 2.5 lakh units annually. Complementing this, an enhanced PLI 2.0 scheme with ₹10,000 crore outlay would offer 7-10% incentives for localizing advanced 4K/8K panels, laser projection technology, and eye-care monitors, slashing import dependence from 45% to under 10% while scaling manufacturing capacity.
Moreover, a dedicated skilling fund for display manufacturing, AV integration, and optics training would empower the upskilling of over 4 lakh youth across 20 Tier-2/3 hubs, generating 6 lakh direct and indirect jobs in the ecosystem.”
Mr. Aditya Khemka, Founder and MD, Aditya Infotech (CP Plus)
“As the Union Budget approaches, there is a strong opportunity to further strengthen India’s security and surveillance infrastructure in line with the country’s urban growth and digital transformation. With increasing focus on smart cities, public safety, transportation networks, and critical infrastructure, surveillance solutions have become an essential part of nation building.
We hope the Budget continues to encourage domestic manufacturing under Make in India, especially in electronics and security technologies.
Equally important is sustained allocation for smart city initiatives, law enforcement modernisation, and public infrastructure projects, where technology can improve efficiency, transparency, and citizen safety. Clear and balanced data protection guidelines, along with ease of doing business measures, will also help build trust and accelerate adoption of advanced surveillance solutions.
A forward looking Budget that supports innovation, manufacturing, and responsible use of technology will not only strengthen India’s security framework but also create jobs, drive exports, and contribute to a self reliant and resilient economy.”
Mr. Rajesh Doshi, Director & Co-Founder at Zebronics
“As India moves steadily toward its Viksit Bharat vision, the Union Budget 2026-27 presents a critical opportunity to accelerate the country’s next phase of economic and manufacturing-led transformation. Strengthening the Make in India framework through sustained support for domestic manufacturing, technology adoption, and research and development will be essential to building global competitiveness. Continued focus on skill development, electronics manufacturing clusters, and stronger MSME supplier ecosystems can help India move up the value chain, reduce import dependence, and create long-term industrial resilience. Additionally, rationalisation of income tax structures to enhance disposable incomes would support domestic consumption, providing a strong demand push for India’s manufacturing sector.”
Mr. Sunil Kr. Sharma, Managing Director & Vice President – Sales (India & SAARC), Sophos
“India’s digital economy continues to grow rapidly, requiring a commitment to cybersecurity as a fundamental component of creating an economy built on trust, economic growth and resilience as a nation. With budget 2026, we are now in a position to elevate cybersecurity as a strategic priority and make targeted investments to build cyber resilience across multiple sectors including BFSI, healthcare, government, MSMEs and more. We want to see continued policy support for AI based threat detection and ransomware prevention, as well as secure cloud adoption. This should also include incentives for the MSME sector to assist in improving their security posture. Additionally, it is essential to continue investing in developing cybersecurity skills, as well as developing stronger relationships between the public and private sectors to facilitate sharing of threat intelligence and help keep India’s future in the digital space secure and resilient.”
Mr. Muneer Ahmad, Managing Director, ViewSonic India
As India accelerates its journey towards a technology-driven future, the upcoming budget is a key opportunity to strengthen digital learning and embrace emerging technologies. Digital education has become central to modern learning, enabling students and educators to access interactive, immersive, and personalized experiences. Policies that support affordable devices, high-speed connectivity, and smart classroom solutions will be vital to bridging the urban-rural learning divide. Investing in technologies such as AI and cloud-based platforms can enhance educational quality while preparing students with the skills needed for the global knowledge economy. Incentives for technology adoption in schools and skill development centres can accelerate this transformation, creating a digitally empowered workforce. At ViewSonic, we are committed to enabling seamless digital learning experiences and supporting India’s vision of a tech-enabled educational ecosystem, ensuring the next generation is equipped to thrive in the digital age.
Mr. Heng Lee, Head of Government Affairs and Public Policy, Asia-Pacific and Japan at Kaspersky
“The Government of India’s sustained investments in digital public infrastructure and cybercrime response have helped strengthen the country’s overall cybersecurity resilience. Over the years, coordinated efforts to improve incident reporting, inter-agency cooperation, and national-level monitoring have contributed to a more structured response to cyber risks affecting citizens and organizations alike.
At the same time, India’s expanding digital footprint continues to attract cybercriminal activity. According to our Threat Intelligence report, Indian users remain among the most targeted globally by web-based attacks, with phishing-led social engineering and malware delivery continuing to dominate the threat landscape.
Looking ahead to Budget 2026, addressing structural issues such as the cybersecurity skills gap, rising ransomware activity, and the protection of critical infrastructure will require sustained and targeted investment. As digital transformation remains a key driver of economic growth and service delivery in India, prioritizing intelligence-led security, advanced threat detection, and workforce development will be essential.”
Mr. Vishal Parekh, Chief Operating Officer, CyberPowerPC India
“Indian gaming and esports are at a defining moment. PROGA 2025 marked the start of a more structured and legitimised chapter for the industry, recognising its growing cultural and economic relevance. As the ecosystem scales, targeted budget support and clear policies will be key to sustaining this momentum.
Treating esports prize money taxation in line with traditional sports, strengthening esports’ role within Khelo India, and encouraging participation across schools, colleges, and states can significantly boost grassroots development. We are hopeful the upcoming budget will support these priorities and help India build a globally competitive gaming and esports ecosystem.”
Mr. Govind Rammurthy, CEO & Managing Director, eScan
“As we approach India’s Union Budget 2026, we hope the Government will prioritize measures that strengthen both our technology ecosystem and our cyber resilience – especially critical after the surge in cyberattacks India experienced in 2025. We look forward to enhanced incentives for homegrown tech innovators through expanded PLI schemes covering emerging sectors like secure AI and cybersecurity infrastructure, alongside continued support for R&D in areas vital to national security. The introduction of India’s DPDP Act has underscored the urgency of data protection. Budget 2026 presents an opportunity to support indigenous software product companies like eScan with improved ease of doing business, tax certainty, and targeted fiscal support. Strategic investments in cybersecurity infrastructure, data centers, and AI governance frameworks will empower Indian software brands to scale globally while contributing meaningfully to India’s digital economy and national security.”
Mr. Akshat Rathee, Co-founder and MD of NODWIN Gaming
“I’m hopeful that this year’s Union Budget acknowledges gaming and esports as emerging pillars of India’s digital and creative economy. Over the last few years, the sector has moved from the fringes to the mainstream, and what it now needs is execution-focused policy support. This includes fair and differentiated taxation for esports on par with traditional sports, easier access to banking and financial services for gaming businesses, and targeted funding under the AVGC framework to support Indian game development and original IP creation. With the right incentives for exports, infrastructure, and state-level esports events, India has a real opportunity to strengthen its global soft power through gaming. The focus doesn’t need to be on large announcements, but on practical enablers that help the ecosystem scale sustainably.”
Mr. Animesh Agarwal, Co-founder and CEO, S8UL Esports
“With the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act now in place, the conversation around gaming and esports has shifted from legitimacy to capacity building. This Budget presents a timely opportunity for policymakers to commit fiscal support towards training, infrastructure, grassroots competition development, and strengthening India’s global position in esports. Beyond gaming-specific measures, sectors such as sports, education and skill development, digital infrastructure, startups, and the creator economy will play an important role in shaping the ecosystem. Investments in training infrastructure, incubation programs, and R&D hubs can strengthen game development and creative production, while support for creator-focused upskilling, production facilities, and IP development can help build sustainable careers. Greater clarity and budget allocation at the central level, along with a dedicated funding focus for gaming within the AVGC framework, can further enable the creation of globally scalable Indian IPs.”
Mr. Sagar Nair, Head of Incubation, LVL Zero Incubator
“As India’s gaming and esports ecosystem matures, this Budget presents an opportunity to shift the conversation from consumption to creation. The industry today needs regulatory and taxation clarity across mobile, PC, and console gaming to unlock long-term capital, enable predictable business planning, and attract global publishing partnerships. Clear budgetary commitment toward the AVGC-XR mission, with a focus on original IP creation, advanced skilling, and studio incubation, can meaningfully accelerate India’s position as a global game development hub. Incentives that support local game development, improve access to gaming hardware, and encourage export-led growth will help Indian studios move up the value chain and build globally competitive products. Esports, too, stands to benefit from formal policy recognition and ecosystem-level investment that strengthens domestic talent pathways and international participation. Taken together, these measures can help India move beyond scale alone and build a sustainable, creator-led gaming economy with global relevance.”
Mr. Girish Hirde, Global Delivery Head at InfoVision
“As India’s IT services industry and GCC ecosystem continue to scale, the upcoming Union Budget presents an opportunity to reinforce the fundamentals that enable consistent, high-quality delivery. Continued investment in secure, reliable digital and physical infrastructure will further strengthen India’s position as a preferred destination for global capability centers and long-term client programs. In parallel, clear policy direction on AI adoption and workforce readiness will be critical to building a world-class, innovation-driven engineering talent base that can deliver sustained value with confidence and predictability.”
Mr. Agendra Kumar, Managing Director, Esri India
“Geospatial technologies are being recognized as critical technologies for national security, governance, and economic development. The announcement of the National Geospatial Mission in the Union Budget 2025 marked an important step towards strengthening India’s geospatial infrastructure and data ecosystem. This mission will support the modernization of geodetic frameworks, enhancing geospatial infrastructure, standardizing data systems, and promoting the adoption of emerging technologies. As the next step, the government must allocate adequate funds so that the roll-out of this program can gain speed and provide the data and infrastructure to support numerous other programs and initiatives of various ministries. Together, these efforts will move the country closer to the Viksit Bharat 2047 vision.”
Dr. Yajulu Medury, Vice Chancellor, Mahindra University
“With the Indian higher education system re-positioning itself in sync with NEP 2020, we anticipate an increased allocation of funds in Union Budget 2026 to make universities centres of advanced research and innovation. This should translate to increased investment in emerging areas to foster holistic development and to facilitate better synergy between industry and academia.”
Mr. Venkatesan Vijayaraghavan, Chief Operating Officer, Virtusa
“As India looks ahead to Union Budget 2026–27, the sustained focus on digital capability building and talent development provides a strong base for a future-ready workforce. Continued investments in skills across AI, data, cloud, and digital engineering are strengthening India’s ability to support complex enterprise transformation programs at global scale.
Across the technology services sector, companies are focused on building delivery-ready talent through enterprise-led training, apprenticeships, and structured early-career programs. Budget provisions that help scale these efforts and enable closer collaboration with educational institutions can sustain this momentum and reinforce India’s position as a global hub for digital services delivery.”
Mr. Niranjan Chintam, Executive Chariman, Kellton Technologies
“2026 will be a year of disciplined technology spending, outcome-led, secure-by-design, and governed for scale. AI and automation will continue to attract investment, but only where data is ready, controls are embedded, and ROI is provable. Amid cost pressure, regulatory scrutiny, and rising cyber risk, advantage will come from focused execution that converts technology into measurable productivity, resilience, and competitive trust.”
Mr. Sachin Panicker, Chief AI Officer, Fulcrum Digital
“India stands at a pivotal moment in its AI journey, with the AI ecosystem entering a phase where scale, trust and global competitiveness will define the next decade, and the Union Budget 2026 should reinforce the nation’s ambition to become a global AI innovation hub. We expect the Budget to prioritise strategic investments in foundational infrastructure — particularly in world-class data centres, cloud ecosystems, and sustainable high-performance computing — that can unlock enterprise-grade AI adoption across sectors, efficiently and responsibly. Enhancing policy clarity and regulatory certainty for AI deployment and data governance will accelerate private-sector investment and innovation, while targeted incentives and support for R&D, early-stage AI ventures and domestic IP creation will help India move from being a consumer of global AI to a significant creator.
Equally important is ecosystem-wide support, including robust skilling initiatives that prepare India’s diverse workforce for an AI-augmented economy, and alignment of AI frameworks with ethical and inclusive growth goals. By focusing on infrastructure, policy and human capital, the Union Budget can catalyse next-generation digital services to accelerate India’s transition into a globally competitive AI economy and ensure that India’s AI growth benefits every sector — from healthcare to manufacturing to public services.”
Mr. Rahul Jain, Managing Director at Matrix Geo Solutions
“We at Matrix Geo Solutions expect the Union Budget 2026–27 to accelerate India’s infrastructure and digital transformation by strengthening policy support for geospatial technologies, drone-based surveying, and data-driven planning. Priority should be given to wider adoption of LiDAR, GIS, photogrammetry, and AI-enabled geospatial analytics across national infrastructure, water resources, disaster management, and urban development programs. Enhanced allocations for geospatial data infrastructure, streamlined drone regulations, and incentives for indigenous technology development will improve project accuracy, speed, and cost efficiency. The Budget should also encourage integration of geospatial intelligence with BIM, digital twins, and smart infrastructure platforms. Such measures will enable better decision-making, faster execution of large-scale projects, and position India as a global leader in geospatial engineering, modern surveying, and technology-driven infrastructure development.”
Ms. Srividya Kannan, Founder-CEO, Avaali
“As India prepares for Union Budget 2026, the focus should continue on building a robust ecosystem for technology, innovation, and trust. We hope to see continued support for AI research and development, including grants, incentives, and policy measures that encourage enterprises to adopt AI and automation, strengthen efficiencies, and make data-driven decisions. Strengthening cybersecurity infrastructure and frameworks will be essential as digital and AI workflows become more pervasive.
India’s Data Protection and Privacy landscape also marks a critical juncture. While the DPDP Rules introduce global-standard protections, enterprises face the challenge of aligning compliance with trust. Budget 2026 could help by supporting technology-driven approaches to privacy, promoting architectures where consent, encryption, access controls, and automated governance are foundational, not performative. This will empower Indian tech companies to position themselves as privacy champions while building globally competitive solutions.
Continued focus on the Global Capability Center (GCC) ecosystem, Tier-II/Tier-III city growth, and future-ready talent development, including initiatives promoting women in tech, remains crucial. Similarly, MSMEs and deep-tech startups should receive support through easier access to credit, innovation grants, and technology adoption incentives.”
Mr. Murali Mantravadi, Joint Managing Director of Energy Bots
“India’s digital ecosystem has reached a structural inflection point. The foundation of digital identity, payments and connectivity is in place. The next decade of economic growth now depends on turning scale into sustained technological leadership. This budget presents an opportunity to move beyond short-term announcements and focus on long-term technology capacity building. It must treat AI, cloud, cybersecurity and deep tech as national digital infrastructure. Strategic allocation for compute capacity, sovereign AI stacks and data centre expansion, paired with robust R and D tax incentives and faster pathways from prototype to product, will unlock the true economic potential of India’s tech base.
If India wants to compete globally and export high value software and innovation, policy must move beyond pilots, reduce cloud and data tax friction, and create long term predictability in funding and regulation. In 2026 27, the question is not whether India can adopt technology. It is whether policy can keep pace with India’s capability.”
Mr. Pankaj Jathar, Chief Executive Officer, NIIT Limited
“AI and digital are no longer peripheral skills; they are the core gateway to jobs and competitiveness. As digital learning continues to play a central role in India’s skilling journey, improving affordability will be key to unlocking its full potential. Today, most online courses fall under the 18% GST bracket, which impacts price accessibility at scale. Rationalising GST on verified digital learning programmes to a 5% bracket would make high-quality AI-enabled education more affordable, accelerate widespread adoption, and empower training providers and startups to scale sustainably in support of India’s talent ambitions.
At the same time, the nation must invest more in people. As a skilling-first enabler, we urge the government to set a clear target of 6% of GDP for education, to be delivered through higher absolute allocations that prioritise digital infrastructure, public–private skilling partnerships, and hard-to-reach geographies. India’s skilling gaps are well identified now, and this is a crucial time where we need a national push that combines fiscal incentives for low-cost digital learning with a sustained increase in public education investment to deliver both equity and economic returns.”
Mr. Narendra Sen, Founder & CEO, RackBank & NeevCloud
“As we move from vision to execution, Budget 2026 must recognize that Data Centers are the new sovereign territory and AI is the new electricity. While the projected 1.7 GW capacity is a milestone, our focus must shift from just ‘housing’ hardware to ‘powering’ intelligence.
To truly build an Atmanirbhar AI ecosystem, we need a Production Linked Incentive (PLI) for Compute that prioritizes indigenous cloud platforms over foreign hyperscalers. By treating AI infrastructure as a strategic national asset—similar to highways or power grids—we can ensure that India’s data remains within India’s legal framework, securing our digital sovereignty for decades to come.
Mr. Sameer Nigam, Co-Founder & CEO, Stratbeans
“India’s technology sector is poised to hit USD 300 billion in FY 2025–26, contributing over 7% to GDP, with the digital economy set to reach one-fifth by 2030. The Union Budget 2026 presents a pivotal moment to cement India’s role as a global AI and digital talent hub through clear policy roadmaps for AI skilling, incentives for enterprise reskilling, R&D credits for indigenous AI and SaaS innovations, and support for MSMEs via affordable cloud platforms and digital vouchers. We expect these measures to supercharge productivity, bridge digital gaps, and future-proof our workforce with AI-driven learning solutions that have already empowered over 150 global enterprises like Tata and HDFC.”
Mr. Ramki Gaddipati, CEO APAC & Global CTO, Zeta
“India’s Digital Public Infrastructure has emerged as a defining pillar of the country’s economic architecture. At a scale where platforms like UPI handle more than 20 billion transactions each month, DPI is no longer a back-end enabler – it is the foundation of how India transacts, grows and includes. Recognising DPI as mission-critical national infrastructure in Budget 2026 would reflect its central role in driving productivity and long-term national competitiveness.
However, this scale is increasingly constrained by legacy systems that still underpin large parts of the banking ecosystem. While dependable, these systems limit agility and can raise operational risk in a real-time financial environment. Time-bound fiscal incentives, such as accelerated depreciation or targeted capex support, can help banks modernize core processing, digital experiences, and fraud and risk platforms in a responsible and phased manner.
As this modernization progresses, AI is becoming foundational to financial stability. Moving fintech from pilot projects to large-scale production requires affordable compute and robust R&D investment. Stronger R&D tax incentives and policy support for AI industrialization will ensure India moves beyond simple adoption to global leadership in trusted, high-scale financial systems.
Policy must also recognise that fintech innovation is capital-intensive with long gestation periods. Innovation-linked tax benefits, such as deferring taxes on profits reinvested into platform development, would accelerate growth. Furthermore, as India’s DPI model gains traction across the Global South, driven by fintech diplomacy and interest from regulated institutions overseas, targeted export incentives can establish the nation as a premier global provider of digital financial infrastructure.
Finally, deepening digital adoption necessitates treating cybersecurity as a core pillar of financial stability. Beyond increased funding, establishing a national cybersecurity command would streamline fragmented guidelines and strengthen threat coordination and improve real-time response, safeguarding trust at population scale.”
Mr. Sriram Chitlur, CEO of TalkingLands
“India’s real estate sector is at a critical inflection point. While institutional investments touched a record USD 8.1 billion in 2025, the sector’s next phase of growth depends on resolving its biggest bottleneck: data fragmentation. With the PropTech market expected to grow from USD 918 million in 2022 to nearly USD 3.8 billion by 2030, the upcoming Union Budget must deliver a decisive push towards open data initiatives, digital land records, and Tokenisation.
By treating Land as Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), the government creates the necessary foundation for an AI-driven transformation. Verified, open data is the raw material that allows AI models to move from simple reporting to intelligent forecasting—predicting urban expansion, automating legal due diligence, and identifying title risks in seconds. Ultimately, this fusion of DPI and AI is the only way to achieve reduced litigation, increased transaction speed, and absolute transparency. A budget that prioritizes this digital backbone will be the true catalyst for a modern real estate economy.
India’s real estate sector is at a critical inflection point. While institutional investments touched a record USD 8.1 billion in 2025, the sector’s next phase of growth depends on resolving its biggest bottleneck: data fragmentation. With the PropTech market expected to grow from USD 918 million in 2022 to nearly USD 3.8 billion by 2030, the upcoming Union Budget must deliver a decisive push towards Open Data initiatives, digital land records, and Tokenisation.
By treating Land as Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), the government creates the necessary foundation for an AI-driven transformation. Verified, open data is the raw material that allows AI models to move from simple reporting to intelligent forecasting—predicting urban expansion, automating legal due diligence, and identifying title risks in seconds. Ultimately, this fusion of DPI and AI is the only way to achieve reduced litigation, increased transaction speed, and absolute transparency. A budget that prioritizes this digital backbone will be the true catalyst for a modern real estate.”
Mr. Raj K Gopalakrishnan, Co-Founder & CEO, KOGO AI
“As the 2026-27 Union Budget announcement approaches, it’s time for India to move beyond just fueling the AI engine and start building the entire stack. If last year’s budget was the ‘adrenaline shot’ that sparked the AI ecosystem, the upcoming one needs to be the structural steel that turns India’s AI-First ambition into a permanent global reality.
For AI startups, the biggest bottleneck is not just capital inflows, it’s compute. The expectation is an aggressive expansion of the IndiaAI Mission, focusing on democratizing access to high-performance GPUs. Subsidizing compute for startups isn’t a luxury but a necessity if India aims to build sovereign AI models. Incentives for AI adoption are necessary. Tax breaks or AI-adoption grants for businesses that deploy sovereign AI would be a total game-changer. It would move AI from a high-experiment reality to a productivity multiplier for every business in the country.
Lastly, regulatory certainty is much needed. A dedicated ‘AI Innovation Sandbox’ would allow AI startups in India to ship fast and solve real-world problems. We have the talent and the data. Now we need a budget that gives us the infrastructure and the freedom to build AI that is quintessentially sovereign, yet undeniably world-class.”
Mr. Raghav Gupta, CEO, Futurense
As we look ahead to Budget 2026, India has a real opportunity to move from broad AI skilling to outcome-driven talent transformation. India already accounts for nearly 16% of the global AI talent pool, yet multiple industry reports show that fewer than 25% of graduates are job-ready for advanced digital and AI roles. This gap is not about intent or enrolments, but about real-world deployment and exposure. With AI expected to add over USD 450 billion to India’s GDP by 2030, the Budget must prioritize tighter industry, academia integration, experiential learning, and incentives for enterprises to invest in AI adoption alongside workforce training. Policies that support AI infrastructure, applied research, and structured apprenticeship-style programs can significantly improve employability outcomes. A future-ready Budget should view AI, education, and workforce transformation as a single continuum. Aligning higher education reform, skilling incentives, and enterprise adoption will be critical to ensuring India not only trains talent at scale, but also converts it into productive jobs and global competitiveness.”
Mr. Nakul Kundra, Co-Founder, Devnagri AI
The Government of India’s vision to ‘Make AI in India’ and ‘Make AI Work for India’ signals a clear ambition to position the country as a serious global AI creator. Recent budgetary emphasis under MeitY on compute infrastructure, semiconductors, and AI talent is also an important step towards building this foundation.
However, critical structural gaps continue to constrain progress. High GPU costs, limited domestic compute capacity with India accounting for under 2 percent of global data centre capacity, the absence of scalable indigenous large language models trained on diverse Indian datasets, and gaps in advanced applied AI research and engineering talent remain key bottlenecks.
Going forward, budget policy must move decisively from intent to execution. This includes dedicated funding and policy support for language-first AI and Indian LLMs, clear frameworks for data dignity and consent-driven datasets, and targeted incentives to accelerate applied AI adoption across sectors such as BFSI, D2C, e commerce, and governance. Equally critical is treating core AI infrastructure, such as compute and data platforms as digital public goods backed by sustained public investment, rather than relying solely on private capital to drive national AI capability.
Mr. Bimal Khandelwal, CEO, STT GDC India
“As India accelerates its digital and AI ambitions, the upcoming Union Budget must prioritize building a resilient and future-ready digital backbone. Elevating data centers from basic infrastructure to a comprehensive National Digital Infrastructure is essential, supported by coherent policies on power access, renewable integration, land availability, and time-bound approvals across all authorities. Equally important is strengthening the country’s power transmission network and providing long-term policy certainty for large-scale renewable adoption. Given the strategic role of digital infrastructure in driving economic growth, innovation, and national security, these enablers will be critical to sustaining long-term development and enhancing India’s global competitiveness.”
Ms. Diya Girish, Sales Head & Director, India and SAARC, Milestone Systems
“The direction outlined in the Union Budget 2026 reflects India’s continued commitment to building a digitally resilient and innovation-led economy. A strong emphasis on next-generation infrastructure, enterprise digitalisation, and technology-enabled operations will be key to strengthening India’s long-term growth and global competitiveness.
For organisations operating across complex environments, the focus on scalable digital frameworks and secure technology adoption creates meaningful opportunities to modernise operations while maintaining trust and reliability. At Milestone Systems, we see this as an important step toward enabling smarter, more connected ecosystems where video management software (VMS) plays a critical role in enhancing situational awareness, operational efficiency, and safety.
As India advances its digital ambitions across sectors such as hospitals, airports, smart cities, infrastructure, industry, transportation, and enterprise ecosystems, we look forward to supporting this journey with flexible, future-ready video solutions that align with evolving business and security needs.”
Covered By: NCN MAGAZINE / Union Budget
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