By:- Manoj Paul, Managing Director, Equinix India,
“The Union Budget 2026 is being viewed as a significant move towards making India a strong player in the international digital and AI-based economy, as countries are actively competing to attract large-scale technology investments. The proposed tax certainty, including a tax holiday until 2047 for foreign companies providing global cloud services using data centre infrastructure based in India subject to the requirement that services for Indian customers are delivered through an Indian reseller entity, along with the establishment of a safe harbour margin of 15% on costs where data centre services are provided from India by a related entity, are being hailed as positive moves that will enhance long-term predictability and investment certainty for capital-intensive digital infrastructure.
Such measures will further reinforce the increasing recognition of data centres as a critical enabler of cloud adoption, AI workloads, and global interconnectivity, and will also help to support India’s vision to become a preferred destination for serving international markets. The emphasis on routing domestic services through local businesses is expected to increase value creation and ecosystem participation within India. However, advancements in important enablers like more affordable and dependable power, faster fibre deployment, and stronger alignment with sustainability objectives will also be necessary for the long-term development of AI-ready digital infrastructure.
To fully realise the potential of these Budget announcements, continued policy support for renewable energy integration, grid stability, and network expansion will be required. India’s digital infrastructure ecosystem is well positioned to support long-term value creation, global interconnectivity, and a stable AI-powered future through supportive policies and an encouraging investment climate.”