Trust as infrastructure: How budget 2026 quietly framed data governance as India’s competitive edge

By Tarun Nazare, Managing Director and Co-Founder, Neokred

In this year’s Budget, announcements around manufacturing, MSMEs and data centres stole the limelight. However, in parallel, through subtle remarks, something important was unfolding beneath the surface: Trust. Following the enforcement of the DPDP law, the budget also points to consumer protection and the urgency of trustworthy and secure digital infrastructures. From Compliance Assistance for MSMEs to tax holidays for foreign cloud providers, everything boils down to the vitality of the data security of its citizens.

However, digital infrastructures have become ubiquitous, and data has become the new currency that underpins today’s businesses. It is leveraged across the value chain, from marketing to operations, customer service to credit underwriting and product development to risk management. The Budget 2026 quietly unfurls a fundamental recalibration that data can no longer circulate freely, be collected opaquely, or be governed inconsistently ...