Post Budget Perspectives - The Tech World
Wednesday, February 4, 2026
Budget 2026 presented by the government of India recently contains many policy foci on building India a tech-first country. Economy has been presented as a medium to realise this vision of a technocratic India.
Many leaders from the tech sector have expressed their comments on this aspect of Budget. Following are some of these comments -
"Budget 2026 ignites India's metal ecosystem with precision. The East-West Dedicated Freight Corridor slashes logistics costs, syncing demand velocity with supply chains. The CIE scheme sparks demand for high-grade steel in domestic machinery. AI-driven Digital Knowledge Grid tackles opaque pricing and fragmented sourcing. Carbon Capture Strategy and CBAM norms make green steel a compliance must-reshaping export chains. At 4.3% fiscal deficit and Rs 12.2 lakh crore capex, it's a connector's blueprint - faster rails, smarter tech, sustainable materials fuelling 'Viksit Bharat' (Developed India) from furnace to factory."
--Dhananjay Goel, MD, Enlight Metals
“The Union Budget 2026-27 positions India as a serious global player in digital infrastructure and Cloud services. The long-term tax holiday for foreign Cloud companies until 2047 is a game-changing move. This move will dramatically improve investment and make India significantly more competitive. As a player in critical infrastructure that powers datacentres, AI factories, hyperscale campuses and Cloud environments, we see this as a direct accelerator for the high-density, high-efficiency facilities that will define tomorrow’s digital economy. Our advanced power systems, liquid cooling technologies and integrated rack solutions are purpose-built to support exactly this scale of sustainable, AI-ready build-out.
Equally important is the much-needed relief given to the broader IT services industry. These measures will bring huge relief in compliance burden and allow companies to focus on business growth and innovation. Together, this will attract large global Cloud investment, drive massive new datacentre capacity, create a huge multiplier effect for power, cooling, critical infrastructure and digital ecosystem players. We firmly believe that this budget will accelerate India’s emergence as a global digital infrastructure powerhouse.”
--Subhasis Majumdar, MD, Vertiv India
“The Union Budget 2026-27 marks a pivotal moment in accelerating India's digital infrastructure ambitions. The extension of the tax holiday to 2047 for foreign cloud providers leveraging Indian data centre capacity is a bold, investor-attractive policy that stands out globally for its long-term horizon. This provides the fiscal predictability essential for committing to large-scale, capital-intensive developments, directly supporting our ongoing expansion and efforts to deliver hundreds of megawatts of AI-ready, hyperscale capacity.
The 15% safe harbour for related-party data centre services further streamlines operations for international players building in India, reducing complexity and enhancing cost efficiency in a high-growth environment. We see this as a clear catalyst for India's rise as a preferred global hub, enabling operators like Colt DCS to scale sustainably and deliver the trusted, customer-centric infrastructure that global hyperscalers demand.”
--Pratap Mane, President & Country Head - India, Colt DCS
“We welcome the Union Budget 2026–27 as a strong and investor-positive signal at a time when global capital is actively comparing India with other datacentre markets. India already contributes nearly 20 percent of the global data economy, while the global datacentre market stands at approximately 120 GW. Even capturing one percent of this opportunity highlights the scale of the current capacity gap and the headroom for growth.
With deployed capacity still at an early stage, India has the potential to reach nearly 10 GW over the next five years, translating into investments of close to USD 70–100 billion across datacentre infrastructure. Long-term tax certainty through the proposed tax holiday significantly improves return visibility for global investors, including infrastructure funds and real estate-focused capital; and makes Indian datacentre platforms more attractive as a long-term asset class.
India’s advantage is not limited to policy support. Build costs in India are among the lowest globally at approximately USD 5 million per megawatt, compared to USD 10–12 million in several international markets, materially improving project economics. Combined with domestic manufacturing capability, reduced import dependence; and a strong clean energy ecosystem across solar and wind, the operating environment is structurally competitive.
Equally important is India’s geographic positioning. From locations across eastern and western India, datacentres can serve South Asia, Southeast Asia, West Asia and parts of Africa within low latency thresholds, enabling access to nearly half of the world’s population. This combination of market scale, cost efficiency, energy availability and policy clarity positions India as a credible regional and global hub for digital infrastructure.
For companies like RackBank, this Budget strengthens confidence to expand capacity, attract global capital and support the delivery of scalable, secure and sovereign digital infrastructure for both Indian and international customers.”
--Narendra Sen, Founder & CEO, RackBank Data Centers
“The Union Budget 2026-27 recognises that AI is no longer an experimental technology but a strategic lever for governance, productivity and economic growth. It has specifically highlighted AI applications to enhance governance and introduced measures such as the AI Mission, National Quantum Mission and significant new funding through the Anusandhan National Research Foundation and the Research and Development and Innovation Fund. At Fulcrum Digital, we believe the 21st century’s true potential lies in shifting from simple automation to Intelligence Amplification (IA). By backing R&D and innovation funds, the government is providing the essential fuel for enterprises to move beyond experimentation to real-world, scalable impact.
Equally important is the decision to substantially enhance the safe harbour threshold for IT services from Rs 300 crore to Rs 2,000 crore, which will significantly reduce compliance friction and improve operating certainty for a much broader set of technology firms. This move aims to strengthen India’s technology ecosystem by expanding research capacity, supporting translational innovation and building future capabilities in sectors such as agriculture, healthcare, education and public services. For this framework to create measurable impact we need coordinated implementation with industry and academia, greater focus on data and compute infrastructure, and skilling pathways that align with the evolving demand for specialised AI talent.”
--Sachin Panicker, Chief AI Officer, Fulcrum Digital
“This Union Budget 2026–27 is a strong signal of policy confidence, positioning technology as the backbone of a Viksit Bharat (Developed India). At a time when global macro headwinds are reshaping tech spending, the Budget brings much-needed certainty for India’s IT services and GCC ecosystem. The unified IT services safe harbour framework with a predictable 15.5% margin, along with faster closure of advance pricing agreements, meaningfully strengthens ease of doing business and reinforces India’s competitiveness as a global delivery and engineering hub.
Just as importantly, the Budget makes a clear long-term bet on AI, through AI-led governance and enabling digital infrastructure, while recognising that India’s next growth curve will be won on talent. What is more encouraging is our government’s balanced approach, combining regulatory simplicity with long-term bets on AI-led governance, emerging technologies like quantum computing; and stronger participation of women in STEM. In summary, this is a decisive step towards making India not just a scale destination, but a high-value, trusted technology partner to the world.”
--Piyush Jha, GVP & Head- APAC at GlobalLogic
The comments above show that the tech industry reposes its faith in this Budget. There is high optimism that the policies outlined in the Budget will bring benefits to India as the centre of the developing world in terms of tech provider. At the same time, it will also bring sustainable economies to the country.
