As policymakers finalise Budget 2026, leaders across artificial intelligence, quantum computing, spacetech, and semiconductor ecosystems are urging the government to complement research funding with stronger domestic market creation efforts.
While initiatives such as RDI and ANRF have boosted indigenous innovation capacity, industry voices warn that without structured adoption programmes, homegrown technologies may struggle to find scale within India.
Expectations include targeted incentives for enterprise technology adoption, public sector procurement support, and sector-specific demand stimulation similar to past initiatives that helped accelerate the domestic drone industry.
Read the tech industry expectations from the budget 2026 in detail:
Ankush Sabharwal, Founder and CEO, CoRover
As an AI startup, CoRover looks forward to the upcoming budget’s focus on fostering innovation and accelerating growth in the technology sector, which is poised to contribute over $1 trillion to the global economy by 2030. We expect targeted funding and grants
AI R&D aligns with global trends that attract over $100 billion in annual investment. Investment in infrastructure could further empower startups. Strengthening AI talent through skill development is crucial, as India faces a shortage of 2 million professionals. A balanced approach will create a developing ecosystem and contribute to India’s goal of becoming a $5 trillion economy by 2027 and a $7 trillion economy by 2030, and positively a developed nation by 2047!”
Ankur Maheshwari, Executive Vice President & Group Chief Financial Officer, C5i
The Budget should place strong emphasis on R&D in the IT industry, positioning India to capture the opportunities arising from global AI adoption effectively. This will help India transition from being one of the largest users of AI to a global builder of AI. Just as Make in India has successfully transformed manufacturing, the next imperative is Make in India for AI and IP – built in India, scaled for the world.
Vikash Sharma, CEO, SparxIT
As we approach Budget 2026, the technology sector stands at a critical juncture where policy intervention can truly catalyze India’s digital economy ambitions. With India’s AI market projected to reach $17 billion by 2027 and cybersecurity spending expected to touch $3 billion, we’re hoping to see meaningful tax incentives for companies investing in AI infrastructure and R&D, particularly for homegrown innovation.
The cybersecurity landscape has evolved dramatically, and it’s time our fiscal policies reflect that reality, perhaps through grants or subsidies for businesses adopting advanced threat protection systems. What excites me most is the potential for production-linked incentives extending to the software services sector, which already contributes over $5 trillion to our economy.
We’re also looking at smoother compliances for IT exports and rationalized GST structures for cloud services. The startup ecosystem needs continued support through angel tax exemptions and easier access to venture debt. If the Finance Minister prioritizes skill development funding for emerging technologies, we could unlock over 2 million jobs in AI and cloud computing alone over the next three years. The budget should recognize that technology isn’t just another sector; it’s the backbone enabling transformation.
Sid Mitra, COO, sirrus.ai
Digital infrastructure is only as strong as the people who build and run it. Budget 2026 should ideally place human capital at the heart of India’s technology strategy, backing AI education, interdisciplinary research, and industry-academia collaboration with sustained funding. Without this commitment, the country risks remaining dependent on imported innovation. This Budget should also prioritise funding for Indian-language datasets, voice-led user experiences, and last-mile AI applications across sectors. These investments are essential to extending AI’s benefits beyond urban, English-speaking users and ensuring that technological progress is broad-based and inclusive.
In addition to this, targeted incentives for enterprise AI adoption and domestic SaaS product development would help Indian companies move faster from pilots to production and translate technical capability into measurable economic value. For sectors that have historically taken longer to digitise, real estate, logistics, manufacturing, and healthcare, this shift could be transformational. Access to skilled AI talent and affordable digital infrastructure would enable organisations to improve demand forecasting, optimise pricing, and reduce sales and marketing inefficiencies.”
Dr. Sunil Shekhawat, Co-Founder & CEO of SanchiConnect
The Union Budget 2025 laid a strong foundation for India’s innovation-led growth by reinforcing support for startups, especially in AI and Deep-Tech. As we are close to hearing Budget 2026, we expect to hear top-up policies to support market development and adoption initiatives from the government, which will create domestic appetite to absorb innovation.
The Indian government has already done it in the past for the drone industry, and we would expect a similar approach for technology plays like quantum, AI, spacetech, material sciences, semiconductors, etc. With RDI and ANRF initiatives to scale indigenous technology development, if we don’t frame policies for India market development, the current geopolitical instability can any day backfire, leading to situations which we as a country would certainly not like to encounter.
Dr Ravineet Singh Marwah, Founder of DrMarwahlous
As the Union Budget 2026–27 is presented on February 1, there is a growing expectation that AI skilling will extend to design-led entrepreneurship, particularly across interior contracting and luxury furniture retail. AI-powered design visualisation, project planning, and customer personalisation tools are increasingly shaping how designers, contractors, and luxury retailers collaborate.
A focused Budget push on AI training for design professionals and contractor-led businesses can strengthen execution efficiency, support scalable design entrepreneurship, and elevate India’s luxury interiors ecosystem to global standards.
Roy Aniruddha, CEO & Chairman, TechnoStruct Academy
The Union Budget 2025–26 allocated ₹1.28 lakh crore to education, including ₹20,000 crore for private R&D and ₹500 crore for AI Centres of Excellence. While encouraging, outcomes remain weak: India produces 1.5 million engineers annually, yet only 42.6% are employable (Mercer-Mettl 2025). R&D spend is just 0.7% of GDP, and non-elite graduates, nearly 99% of the talent pool, struggle due to outdated, theory-heavy curricula lacking practical skills such as BIM, VDC, and advanced manufacturing. The construction sector alone loses over ₹1.5 lakh crore annually due to digital skill gaps.
Budget 2026 must shift from credentialism to vocational engineering skills. Key priorities include reducing GST on skill-based courses to improve affordability, offering tax incentives for industry-led skilling platforms and digital labs, and launching a National Construction Tech Skilling Mission with live-project learning and apprenticeship incentives. Industry-aligned vocational training already delivers up to 95% placement for non-elite graduates. Empowering the 99% through targeted skilling reforms is critical to driving employability, productivity, and long-term economic growth.
