AI & Digital Infrastructure
Sachin Panicker, Chief AI Officer, Fulcrum Digital –
“India stands at a pivotal moment in its AI journey, with the AI ecosystem entering a phase where scale, trust and global competitiveness will define the next decade, and the Union Budget 2026 should reinforce the nation’s ambition to become a global AI innovation hub. We expect the Budget to prioritise strategic investments in foundational infrastructure — particularly in world-class data centres, cloud ecosystems, and sustainable high-performance computing — that can unlock enterprise-grade AI adoption across sectors, efficiently and responsibly. Enhancing policy clarity and regulatory certainty for AI deployment and data governance will accelerate private-sector investment and innovation, while targeted incentives and support for R&D, early-stage AI ventures and domestic IP creation will help India move from being a consumer of global AI to a significant creator.
Equally important is ecosystem-wide support, including robust skilling initiatives that prepare India’s diverse workforce for an AI-augmented economy, and alignment of AI frameworks with ethical and inclusive growth goals. By focusing on infrastructure, policy and human capital, the Union Budget can catalyse next-generation digital services to accelerate India’s transition into a globally competitive AI economy and ensure that India’s AI growth benefits every sector — from healthcare to manufacturing to public services.”
Data Centres, Cloud & Digital Sovereignty
Mr. Narendra Sen, Founder & CEO, RackBank & NeevCloud –
“As we move from vision to execution, Budget 2026 must recognize that Data Centers are the new sovereign territory and AI is the new electricity. While the projected 1.7 GW capacity is a milestone, our focus must shift from just ‘housing’ hardware to ‘powering’ intelligence.
To truly build an Atmanirbhar AI ecosystem, we need a Production Linked Incentive (PLI) for Compute that prioritizes indigenous cloud platforms over foreign hyperscalers. By treating AI infrastructure as a strategic national asset—similar to highways or power grids—we can ensure that India’s data remains within India’s legal framework, securing our digital sovereignty for decades to come.
Cybersecurity & Digital Trust
Sunil Kr. Sharma, Managing Director & Vice President – Sales (India & SAARC), Sophos –
“India’s digital economy continues to grow rapidly, requiring a commitment to cybersecurity as a fundamental component of creating an economy built on trust, economic growth and resilience as a nation. With budget 2026, we are now in a position to elevate cybersecurity as a strategic priority and make targeted investments to build cyber resilience across multiple sectors including BFSI, healthcare, government, MSMEs and more. We want to see continued policy support for AI based threat detection and ransomware prevention, as well as secure cloud adoption. This should also include incentives for the MSME sector to assist in improving their security posture. Additionally, it is essential to continue investing in developing cybersecurity skills, as well as developing stronger relationships between the public and private sectors to facilitate sharing of threat intelligence and help keep India’s future in the digital space secure and resilient.”
Bharat Supply- Logistics
Mr. Taranbir Singh, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Bharat Supply
“As India’s consumption story deepens beyond metros, the Union Budget holds an opportunity to meaningfully strengthen last-mile and beyond-metro logistics. A key step would be to simplify and rationalise GST for logistics, particularly last-mile delivery services, to lower operating costs and unlock new private investment. Equally important is sustained focus on rural consumption, where logistics is the critical backbone connecting farmers, MSMEs, and small retailers to markets. We need to ensure sustained investments in rural infrastructure, technology adoption, and financial inclusion to bring India’s logistics costs, currently at 14–16% of GDP, closer to global benchmarks.”
Proventus Agrocom Limited (ProV)_Healthy Snaking Brand (FnB)
Mr. Ankush Jain, CFO at Proventus Agrocom Limited (ProV)
“In recent years, India’s FMCG and food ecosystem has witnessed a meaningful shift, with consumers becoming more conscious about nutrition, transparency, and quality of the food they are having. The transition towards healthy outsourcing is leading the evolution and has encouraged brands to innovate responsibly and build products that balance health with accessibility. As India is awaiting the upcoming budget 2026-27, the expectation speaks out loud this time demanding the government to continue strengthening support for food innovation, healthy living, sustainable sourcing & packaging, and modern retail infrastructure. It’s equally important to strengthen our positioning in terms of bringing forth initiatives such as the newly constituted Makhana Board and the ₹476.03 crore makhana development scheme (2025–2030), thereby we as a healthy snacking brand anticipate increased focus on research and development, access to quality seeds, farmer training, and modernization of processing capabilities. Reemphasizing policy measures around Agri-value chains, clean-label manufacturing, and MSME-led food entities is surely expected to go a long way in creating a resilient, future-ready snacking ecosystem. We believe India has the potential to emerge as a global hub for better-for-you healthy food alternatives, driven by local innovation and world-class standards.”
Bhanzu_Math Learning Platform (Edtech)
Mr. D L Prachotan, Co-Founder and Head of Business Development at Bhanzu
“I personally believe that India’s entrepreneurial landscape has transformed dramatically in the last few years. We are transitioning from job seekers to job creators. This shift in mindset is one of the greatest achievements of our economic and start-up policy framework. As India is awaiting for the next budget, my expectation is that the government will double down on enabling this momentum wherein we not just create more opportunities for Indian entrepreneurs but also build strong ecosystems which attract global talent. I believe we as a country are ready to have the best minds of the world who choose to make in India.”
