As Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled the Union Budget 2026–27 today, the spotlight quickly shifted from the Budget speech to the boardrooms. From industry captains and startup founders to economists and sectoral experts, reactions began pouring in within minutes—welcoming key reforms, flagging concerns, and decoding what the announcements mean for growth, investment, jobs, and consumption. Here’s how India Inc is responding to Budget 2026, with first reactions and sharp takes from leaders across sectors.
Transformation from technology consumption to AI-powered innovation
Budget 2026 represents India’s transformation from technology consumption to AI-powered innovation—a blueprint for a $7 trillion economy built on intelligence, not just scale.
The strategic architecture is balanced and long-term. The tax holiday until 2047 for cloud services is a masterstroke in data sovereignty, attracting an estimated $50 billion in data center investments by 2030 while positioning India as the cloud hub for emerging markets.MSME reforms demonstrate sophisticated thinking. The ₹10,000 crore SME Growth Fund, combined with the TReDs platform mandate and expanded safe harbor thresholds, creates force multipliers enabling India’s 63 million MSMEs to scale from survivors to global champions.
The High-Powered Committee on Education to Employment targets capturing 10% of global services trade by 2047—ambitious but achievable given our demographic advantage: 65% under 35, digital infrastructure like UPI and Aadhaar.
AI integration is refreshingly pragmatic. Bharat-VISTAAR’s multilingual agricultural platform and AI in school curricula show generational thinking, ensuring our demographic dividend becomes an intelligent dividend.
We see the Budget as a structural roadmap that creates an environment where technology, enterprises, and individuals can unite to collectively propel India’s future advancement. However, the critical gap remains R&D investment, we risk becoming sophisticated consumers of AI rather than creators.
The Union Budget’s design powers national growth, driven by AI, cloud sovereignty, and innovative digital platforms. This technological foundation is key to defining the future of growth, and Salesforce fully embraces this opportunity.
—Arundhati Bhattacharya, President & CEO, Salesforce South Asia
Clear shift from intent to execution
The Union Budget marks a clear shift from intent to execution for India’s technology and AI ecosystem. Much before the Budget, there was optimism that this would be an adoption-led framework, and the announcements have lived up to that expectation. The strong emphasis on risk capital, R&D-led innovation, and large-scale adoption reflects a mature understanding of how deep technologies move from labs to real-world impact. What stands out is that this is not just a visionary Budget, but one that clearly outlines the methods to achieve that vision through stronger education-to-employment linkages, enterprise-focused skilling across IT, ITES, and KPO sectors, and meaningful inclusion of Divyangjan via technology-enabled solutions supported by institutions such as ALIMCO.
The ₹20,000 crore R&D Innovation Fund, alongside the larger ₹1 lakh crore support through the Department of Science and Technology, creates a solid foundation for long-term innovation. Initiatives like Bharat Vratta’s multilingual, AI-led agriculture framework linked with ICAR further reinforce inclusive growth. With data center incentives and a global outlook, India has a real opportunity to emerge as a global AI hub driving ease of living, ease of business, and sustainable prosperity.
—Ankush Sabharwal Founder and CEO CoRover
ISM 2.0 marks important shift in semiconductor journey
The launch of ISM 2.0 marks an important shift in India’s semiconductor journey—from a narrow focus on fabrication to building capabilities across equipment, materials, design, and full-stack Indian IP. Alongside the expanded ₹40,000 crore Electronics Components Manufacturing Scheme, this Budget strengthens the domestic electronics and semiconductor supply chain in a meaningful way. For hardware and deep-engineering startups, this creates the foundation to design and build globally competitive technology in India, with greater control over critical components rather than relying entirely on imported ecosystems.
—Gokul NA Founder, CynLr
India is ready to place technology at the heart of its next growth cycle
The Union Budget 2026 sends a clear signal that India is ready to place technology, and particularly AI, at the heart of its next growth cycle. The emphasis on national AI missions and a structured push to make the services sector a core driver of Viksit Bharat reflects a long-term view rather than a short-term stimulus.
Over the next decade, we expect India’s IT and services sector to evolve from being largely execution-led to becoming insight- and outcome-driven, with AI, data platforms, and digital infrastructure shaping how value is created. This transition will not only redefine productivity but also open new categories of jobs and specialised skills across the ecosystem.
What will be critical is ensuring that emerging technologies are accessible beyond large enterprises. If implemented well, these missions have the potential to help MSMEs and mid-sized IT players participate meaningfully in global value chains, while positioning India as a trusted hub for next-generation digital services by 2047.
—Rajashri Sai, Founder & CEO, Impactree.ai
Focus on digital and AI ecosystems transformative for MSMEs
For MSMEs, this focus on digital and AI ecosystems is particularly transformative. Technology can become the bridge that helps small enterprises convert sustainability and governance performance into financial credibility. AI-driven platforms can simplify ESG reporting, strengthen supply-chain intelligence, and enable access to green and transition finance that has so far remained concentrated among large corporations.
The government’s commitment to measuring the impact of AI on jobs is welcome and timely. What is now needed is a clear integration of these missions with climate-finance frameworks so that MSMEs can use data, automation, and Green Credit mechanisms to unlock affordable capital and new market opportunities.
If executed with strong public-private collaboration, this Budget can accelerate India’s journey toward a resilient, service-led and sustainable economy, where technology empowers even the smallest enterprise to participate in the nation’s industrial revolution.
—Vivek Shankaranarayanan, Co-founder and CTO, Impactree.ai
India’s growth ambitions are now inseparable
—Major Vineet Kumar, Founder and Global President, CyberPeace
Emphasis on market-relevant skills will be critical
The budget’s focus on the services sector is a welcome recognition of the critical role skilled talent plays in India’s long-term growth. The proposal to set up a high-powered Education to Employment and Enterprises Standing Committee is a practical step towards strengthening the link between education outcomes and industry requirements. Greater emphasis on market-relevant skills, particularly in emerging areas such as AI will be critical.
Additionally, while India has a large workforce, gaps remain between academic training and the skills needed to develop, deploy, and manage AI-driven and cloud-based systems at scale. Addressing these gaps through closer industry-education collaboration, applied learning programmes, and continuous reskilling will be key to improving workforce readiness.
Securing a ten percent share of the global services market by 2047 will depend on how effectively education systems, industry need,s and export priorities are aligned. A coordinated approach to skill development that meets global standards can enhance employability, strengthen competitiveness, and deepen India’s role in global services value chains.
—Sanket Atal, Senior Vice President, Engineering and Country Head, India, OpenText
Budget creates a strong foundation for technology-led services
With the launch of Bharat-VISTAAR, which integrates AgriStack with AI-enabled advisory systems, the Budget takes a clear step towards building a trusted digital data backbone for Indian agriculture. By focusing on productivity, risk reduction and customised, data-driven support for farmers—especially small and marginal farmers—the Budget creates a strong foundation for technology-led services that can improve on-farm decision-making without adding to farmers’ capital burden.
—Jaisimha Rao, Founder & CEO, Niqo Robotics
Bharat-VISTAAR brings the promise of making agri-advisory more intelligent
Bharat-VISTAAR brings the promise of making agri-advisory more intelligent, timely, and accessible at the farmgate. By integrating AI with AgriStack and ICAR advisories in multiple languages, it can support better decisions on crops, inputs, and markets, especially for smallholder and first-generation women farmers.
The Rural Women-Led Enterprises initiative, building on the Lakhpati Didi programme, takes this further by enabling the shift from subsistence livelihoods to ownership. In our experience, such enterprises succeed when they are deeply embedded in local agri-value chains, with access to working capital, market linkages, and autonomy over key decisions.
Many women-led groups are already leading the adoption of sustainable and climate-resilient practices. Strengthening them through enterprise support will generate both economic and environmental dividends. The Budget lays strong groundwork; execution will depend on how these initiatives reach real farms, in real time.
—Anand Chandra, Co-founder & Executive Director, Arya.ag
Data center tax holiday a watershed moment
The data center tax holiday till 2047 is a watershed moment for India’s digital economy. By incentivizing foreign cloud providers to process data onshore with a 15% safe harbour for related-party services, the government has effectively removed the biggest barrier to DPDP Act compliance. Until now, enterprises faced an impossible trade-off between global-scale cloud infrastructure and data localization requirements. This budget resolves that tension—more onshore data processing means consent management becomes enforceable, data principal rights become actionable, and cross-border transfer headaches reduce significantly. For privacy-conscious enterprises, especially in regulated sectors, this is the infrastructure foundation they’ve been waiting for.
However, data localization alone doesn’t equal privacy. The real work begins after data lands in India—robust consent management, third-party risk governance, and demonstrable accountability remain non-negotiable. Enterprises that treat onshore hosting as a checkbox will find themselves exposed when DPDP enforcement begins in earnest. The budget creates the infrastructure opportunity; building genuine privacy operations capability is what will separate compliant organizations from vulnerable ones.
—Shashank Karincheti, Co-founder & CPO, Redacto.ai
Positions India as a global hub for cloud and data services
Budget 2026 clearly positions India as a global hub for cloud and data services. Long-term tax certainty, a practical safe-harbour framework, and the requirement for local reseller participation make India far more attractive for global business. For the BPM sector, this strengthens our ability to scale delivery from India, expand beyond metros, and bring global work closer to skilled local talent.
—Abhinav Arora, CEO & MD, EOSGlobe
Signals govt’s intent to mainstream AI
Budget 2026 clearly signals the government’s intent to mainstream AI across governance, education, and agriculture—through the AI Mission, the Education-to-Employment Standing Committee, and platforms like Bharat-VISTAAR. As AI moves from experimentation into everyday workflows across public systems, enterprises will mirror this adoption internally. That shift brings a new challenge: organisations must gain visibility into how AI systems interact with sensitive data. The next phase of AI adoption will be defined not just by capability, but by oversight.
—Keshava Murthy, CEO & Co-founder, Matters.AI
Focus on cloud infrastructure addresses a core constraint in scaling enterprise platforms
Union Budget 2026 strengthens the policy backbone required for India to operate as a global technology and AI execution hub. The focus on cloud infrastructure and long-term clarity for cloud services directly addresses a core constraint in scaling enterprise platforms, the ability to run regulated, data-intensive workloads with confidence and continuity. For GCCs, this creates the conditions to move beyond delivery into ownership, where India increasingly designs, builds, and runs core platforms and mission-critical systems for global enterprises.
Greater predictability in tax and compliance frameworks is critical when technology platforms are designed to run for years. For large, globally distributed engineering and operations teams, clarity reduces friction in decision-making and allows accountability for core platforms and products to sit firmly in one place. This matters for GCCs that are moving into full-stack ownership, where India increasingly builds, runs, and scales enterprise platforms for global customers. When this predictability is complemented by sustained investments in advanced skilling, strong education-to-employment pipelines, and a sharper focus on women in STEM, it reinforces India’s ability to deliver trusted, enterprise-grade technology at scale.
—Sindhu Gangadharan, SAP Labs India; Chairperson, Nasscom; President, Indo German Chamber of Commerce
Strengthening national missions around AI
The government’s renewed focus on AI and emerging technologies signals a clear intent to move India from technology adoption to technology leadership. Strengthening national missions around AI, deep-tech R&D, and innovation creates a strong foundation for building scalable and responsible digital systems. For the fintech ecosystem, continued policy backing for the AI Mission and R&D funding will accelerate intelligent solutions that improve efficiency and financial inclusion. Initiatives like Bharat Vistaar emphasize the importance of multilingual, AI-led platforms in widening access. This approach is especially relevant for financial services, where trust, personalization, and reach are critical.
—Anurag Jain, CEO & co-founder, ORISERVE
Budget 2026 provides the structural tailwinds necessary for India
The Finance Minister’s emphasis on strengthening India’s services-led growth model, alongside the ambition to achieve a 10% share of the global services market by 2047, provides long-term policy clarity for technology-driven enterprises. The continued focus on education-to-employment alignment and innovation-supportive frameworks will help build a more resilient talent and cost environment, enabling firms in advanced digital assurance and quality engineering to scale responsibly and compete globally.
—Satish Sureddi, CFO, QualiZeal
Transformative era for India’s 6-mn tech workforce
Budget 2026 marks a transformative era for India’s 6-million strong tech workforce. The formation of the ‘Education to Employment and Enterprises Standing Committee’ is the strategic bridge we need to turn academic potential into industry-ready AI leadership. As India pursues a 10% share of the global services market, the Finance Minister’s focus on the socio-economic impact of AI is a masterstroke in pragmatic planning.
By embedding content creator labs in 15,000 schools and doubling down on AI Centers of Excellence, we are finally democratizing high-tech opportunity. For QualiZeal, as we scale toward 3,500 innovators by 2028, the budget’s commitment to girls’ hostels in STEM and regional hubs is a game-changer. It allows us to build a workforce that is not only ‘AI-native’ but truly inclusive. This isn’t just a fiscal policy; it is a declaration that India will not just participate in the AI revolution—we will lead it.
—Venka Reddy, CPO, QualiZeal
Emphasis on digital public infrastructure strategic
This Budget reinforces a long-term, capability-building approach to deep technology in India. Continued support for national missions across emerging technologies—semiconductors, space, clean energy, AI and quantum—signals policy continuity that is essential for deep-tech ventures, where innovation cycles are long and capital requirements are high.
The emphasis on digital public infrastructure and fibre connectivity is equally strategic. Robust, nationwide connectivity underpins data-intensive and hardware-led innovation, enabling deep-tech startups to develop, test and scale solutions across manufacturing, defence, climate, healthcare and space ecosystems.
Together, mission-mode public funding and infrastructure investments help reduce early technology and execution risk, encouraging greater participation from private capital at both early and growth stages. Rather than focusing on short-term outcomes, the Budget prioritises foundational systems that allow deep-tech companies to emerge from India and compete globally. This approach positions India not just as an adopter, but as a creator of frontier technologies over the next decade.
—Vishesh Rajaram, Founding Partner at Speciale Invest
Budget must prioritize integration of AI into higher education system
The Union Budget must prioritize the integration of Artificial Intelligence into India’s higher education system, making it mandatory across all disciplines. AI has the potential to revolutionize learning by offering personalized education, adaptive assessments, and data-driven career guidance. By mandating AI-driven curricula, upgrading teacher training, and fostering research in AI, we can create a future-ready workforce. Additionally, encouraging collaboration between academia and startups will drive innovation, allowing MSMEs to leverage AI for growth. Targeted budget allocations should fuel these efforts, ensuring that students graduate with skills aligned to industry needs, bridging the gap between education and employment. With AI at the core of education, we can empower our youth with the skills needed to thrive in an increasingly digital world, making India a global leader in both innovation and talent development.
—Vishal Sood, Founder & CEO, Placecom
Strong push toward AI and emerging technologies marks a pivotal step
The government’s strong push toward AI and emerging technologies marks a pivotal step in positioning them as engines of inclusive economic growth and national development. Strengthening national missions around AI, quantum computing, and deep-tech R&D signals a clear intent to build future-ready digital infrastructure at scale. As initiatives like Bharat Vistaar leverage multilingual AI platforms to democratize access to data and insights, it becomes equally critical that cybersecurity is embedded by design into these systems. From protecting sensitive agricultural and citizen data to ensuring the integrity of AI-driven decision-making, secure-by-default frameworks will be central to long-term trust and adoption. Enhanced funding for AI and innovation creates an opportunity to integrate advanced threat intelligence, continuous monitoring, and resilient architectures into next-generation platforms. A secure AI ecosystem will not only accelerate innovation but also ensure that India’s digital growth remains trusted, resilient, and sustainable as the country advances toward its Viksit Bharat vision.
—Mandar Patil, Senior Vice President, Sales at Cyble
Enhanced support to Self-Reliant India Fund will strengthen manufacturing and MSME ecosystem
The Union Budget FY26–27 reinforces India’s commitment to manufacturing-led growth. The continued drive on capital expenditure, with infrastructure allocation exceeding ₹12 lakh crore, alongside fiscal consolidation at 4.3%, strikes a prudent balance between growth stimulus and macroeconomic stability. Enhanced support to the Self-Reliant India Fund will further strengthen the manufacturing and MSME ecosystem. For the automotive and tyre sectors, sustained investments in infrastructure and logistics will improve cost efficiencies and support demand momentum. The emphasis on tourism and extensive program of skilling the workforce will go a long way in generating employments. In the context of evolving global trade dynamics, continued focus on ease of doing business, technology adoption, and policy stability will be critical to attract investment and scale exports, strengthening long-term growth momentum.
—Dr. Raghupati Singhania, Chairman & Managing Director, JK Tyre & Industries
(Post is being updated regularily)
