Budget 2026: Why India’s Next Leap Depends On Intelligence, Trust, And IP

India enters the Union Budget 2026 cycle at a moment when scale is no longer the differentiator it once was. Digital infrastructure is widespread, adoption curves are steep, and platforms reach hundreds of millions of users with relative ease. The harder challenge now is building intelligence, resilience, and ownership into these systems.

Across AI research, cybersecurity, creative industries, and entrepreneurship, industry leaders are signalling that India’s next phase of growth will be determined by how well policy supports adaptive technologies, trusted digital systems, and long-term capital formation, not short-term incentives.

AI As India’s Natural Advantage In Complexity

For Himanshu Tyagi, Professor, Indian Institute of Science and Co-founder, Sentient, India’s historic strength lies in its ability to function effectively amid uncertainty—an advantage AI can amplify rather than constrain.

"India’s strength has always been its ability to create outsized impact at unprecedented scale, often by scaling within chaos rather than waiting for perfect conditions. From universal suffrage to digital payments and physical infrastructure, the country has built systems that serve 1/5th of the world’s population and unlocked opportunity at a speed few nations have ever matched. This ability to operate, adapt, and compound within complexity is deeply embedded in India’s institutional DNA.

However, there is a natural ceiling to how far scale alone can take us. Over time, other economies matched and surpassed India by relying on rigid, rule-based structures designed for predictable environments. AI now changes that equation. Intent-driven, adaptive systems align far more closely with India’s strength of scaling within chaos than traditional software ever could. Union Budget 2026 can focus on sustained investment in AI research, compute, and deployment across government and industry, enabling India to once again turn its unique approach to scale into a durable global advantage.”

The implication for policymakers is clear: AI is not just a productivity tool, it is a structural fit for India’s operating reality.

Cybersecurity: The Trust Layer Of India’s Digital Economy

As digital systems become foundational to governance, finance, and infrastructure, cyber resilience is emerging as a national economic concern, not merely an IT function.

Dipesh Kaura, Country Director – India & SAARC, Securonix, points to the growing urgency:

Cyber-attacks on India’s private and public critical infrastructure, making headlines reveals vulnerabilities in it that could cripple the country’s economy and emphasize the need for cybersecurity awareness. A system that provides regular updates and audits to ensure government institutions have implemented effective cybersecurity measures should be in place by leveraging cloud-based solutions that deliver measurable outcomes. The government should allocate significant funds to creating awareness and development of AI-driven skills and innovation in the cybersecurity domain, ensuring a future-ready workforce. Incentivizing AI-native security products for their adoption across sectors is key to establishing a cyber-resilient digital India.

Reinforcing this view, Chetan Jain, cofounder & managing director of Inspira Enterprise, emphasises the link between cyber trust and global competitiveness:

“As India’s digital economy continues to contribute significantly to national GDP, the 2026 budget should prioritize investments in cyber resilience to strengthen the country’s global competitiveness in digital trust and security. With national and economic security increasingly dependent on innovative, resilient, and AI-driven solutions, the government must also allocate resources to accelerate AI-based cybersecurity R&D. In parallel, strong public-private partnerships will be critical to educate citizens and enterprises, and to improve overall cyber resilience and preparedness.”

Together, these perspectives frame cybersecurity as core economic infrastructure, not discretionary spending.

Creative Economy: From Participation To IP Ownership

Beyond enterprise tech, Budget 2026 is also being closely watched by India’s creative and digital economy, which increasingly overlaps with technology through gaming, platforms, AI, and immersive media.

Rajan Navani, Chairman, CII India@100 Council and Chairman, JetSynthesys, sees the moment as one of transition, from intent to execution:

“As we approach the Union Budget 2026, India’s creative and digital economy stands at a critical inflection point…

Globally, the creative economy is valued at over USD 2 trillion, yet India remains under-represented in terms of IP ownership despite being one of the largest consumers of digital content. The opportunity now is to move from service-led participation to ownership of globally relevant intellectual property…”

His remarks underline a growing policy challenge: India produces talent at scale but monetises too little original IP. The next phase demands fiscal and institutional frameworks that reward ownership, exports, and innovation.

Entrepreneurs Want Stability, Not Surprises

For founders and operators, the strongest pre-Budget signal is not about new schemes but policy predictability.

Soumik Bandyopadhyay, Entrepreneurship | Business Ecosystem, articulates a sentiment widely shared across the startup community:

“For entrepreneurs building long-term businesses, policy stability matters far more than short-term incentives. This Budget should reinforce ease of doing business through predictable taxation, simplified compliance, and smoother access to growth capital—especially for mid-sized and scaling enterprises.

Frequent regulatory changes increase uncertainty and divert founder attention away from innovation and execution… A Budget that focuses on stability and execution will strengthen entrepreneurial confidence and support sustainable economic growth.”

This perspective reinforces a broader theme: confidence is a policy outcome, not just a market one.

The Pre-Budget Signal

Across AI, cybersecurity, creative industries, and entrepreneurship, the message ahead of Budget 2026 is consistent. India no longer needs proof-of-scale policies. It needs systems that think, infrastructure that can be trusted, and frameworks that reward long-term ownership and execution.

Whether the budget responds with depth or defaults to incrementalism will shape how durable India’s next growth cycle truly is.