By Nandagopal P, CEO, Asymmetri; CTO, Gacsym Ventures and Limited Partner, Arya Ventures.
This budget looks like India is finally treating technology as one connected system: chips, AI, software, cloud, and manufacturing working together instead of separate policies. The ₹40,000 crore allocation for Semiconductor Mission 2.0 is a strong signal. It strengthens everything from chip design and fabrication to ATMP, R&D, and talent. That matters because AI computers are becoming a strategic resource. Building more capability at home reduces supply-chain risk, brings down long-term costs, and supports sovereign AI infrastructure, indigenous foundational models, and large-scale data centres under the India AI Mission.
On the services side, the tax and regulatory clean-up is equally important. Creating a single ‘Information Technology Services’ category, raising the transfer pricing safe harbour threshold from ₹300 crore to ₹2,000 crore, moving to a rule-based automated approval process, and extending validity to five years should significantly improve predictability and reduce compliance friction and disputes. Faster unilateral APAs and extended modified return benefits further strengthen India’s position for IT services, GCC growth, and high-value digital exports, especially at a time when AI is reshaping global delivery models.
The long runway given to data centres and cloud investment is also strategically timed. A tax holiday till 2047 for foreign cloud providers using Indian data centres, along with a 15% safe harbour for related-party data centre services, creates the kind of long-term visibility hyperscalers need to commit serious capital. Add support for just-in-time logistics for electronics manufacturing, and the intent is clear: build a flywheel across semiconductors, cloud, AI, and advanced manufacturing that can drive exports, jobs, and innovation over the next decade, aligned with the Viksit Bharat vision.
