Budget 2026 Champions Tech for Inclusive Growth, Says Nasscom

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her ninth consecutive Budget, presented a forward-looking and consultative Budget that reinforces the partnership between government and industry.

"The Budget reflects a continued focus on ease of doing business and on strengthening India's position as a global technology and services powerhouse under the Viksit Bharat vision, with technology positioned as a core driver of inclusive and sustainable growth," Nasscom said.

The industry body stated that a major positive for the technology industry is the rationalisation of the international taxation and transfer pricing framework, and the clear use of tax policy as a competitiveness lever.

Nasscom also welcomed the Budget for its alignment with long-standing industry priorities that have consistently articulated through sustained engagement and consultation.

"The consolidation of software development services, IT-enabled services, KPO and contract R&D relating to software development into a single category of Information Technology services with a uniform safe harbour margin of 15.5 per cent, together with the enhancement of the Safe Harbour eligibility threshold from Rs 300 crore to Rs 2,000 crore, materially expands access to certainty mechanisms for routine cross-border IT service models," it said.

Nasscom also hailed the strengthening of the Advance Pricing Agreement framework.

"The Budget's proposal to fast-track unilateral APAs for IT services, with an endeavour to conclude them within two years and a limited extension window, directly addresses long-standing concerns around timelines and access to certainty," it said.

Further, the Budget also makes an important intervention to strengthen India's cloud and digital infrastructure ecosystem.

"The proposal for a tax holiday till 2047 for foreign companies providing cloud services to customers globally using data centre services from India, with services to Indian customers routed through an Indian reseller entity, sends a clear signal to attract long-term global investment and support the expansion of India's compute capacity," said the industry body.

Nasscom also welcomed the continued emphasis on building domestic capability in strategic technologies, including the launch of the India Semiconductor Mission 2.0 and the enhanced outlay of Rs 40,000 crore for the Electronics Components Manufacturing Scheme.

"These measures signal a more mature policy approach that places technology, digital infrastructure, and tax certainty at the centre of India's long-term competitiveness," Nasscom said, adding that the "Union Budget 2026 sets a clear direction by aligning policy certainty with digital and manufacturing capability".

- IANS