Union Budget 2026 Reactions AI & IT: ‘Intelligence-First’ digital infrastructure

As a watershed moment for India’s growth story, Union Budget 2026 will be a leap from simply being digitally adopted to actually creating deep tech and robust industrial capabilities. The Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman explained that the budget has a multipronged strategy to promote growth, “Intelligence-First” digital infrastructure; a Decentralised approach for Startups; and Structural Efficiency for Manufacturing.

In addition to placing high priority on operationalising the Anusandhan National Research Fund, the budget expressly states the intent to create domestic Intellectual Property by launching new Capacity Building AI Missions. Further, the budget builds on the current scaling of the GENESIS program, and the announcement of the INR10,000 Crore SME Growth Fund provides an architectural framework to democratise innovation, thereby creating an ecosystem that supports the next level of unicorn companies in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities (Bharat).

Information Technology

• Reinforcing tax certainty and incentives for data centre services
• Increased ...