Story Breif – India’s Union Budget 2026 allocates Rs 1,000 crore for the IndiaAI Mission, a cut from last year’s Rs 2,000 crore. A committee will assess AI’s job impact, integrate AI into education, and promote upskilling. The budget also plans AI integration across sectors like agriculture and assistive devices, alongside a tax holiday for foreign companies using Indian data centers to attract investment.
In the Union Budget 2026, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has proposed an allocation of ₹1,000 crore for Artificial Intelligence under the IndiaAI Mission for FY 2026–27. While this is lower than the ₹2,000 crore initially proposed last year, it represents an increase of ₹200 crore over the revised estimate of ₹800 crore. The funding, routed through the IndiaAI Mission, underscores the government’s continued commitment to strengthening India’s AI ecosystem and advancing its strategic priorities across industry, defence, and national security, positioning the country as a global AI leader.
Industry sees AI as India’s next growth multiplier
Union Budget 2026 graphs India’s shift from digital-first to intelligence-first, targeting 10% of the global services market by 2047 with AI as the growth multiplier said Srikanth Chakkilam, CEO and Executive Director, Covasant Technologies. Also, expanded IndiaAI Mission with 38,000 GPUs, Bharat Vistar multilingual AI, and the Education-to-Employment Standing Committee. With ₹1 lakh crore RDI funding and AI adding $1.7 trillion by 2035, India can lead agentic automation and trusted AI governance. Whereas, Pradeip Agarwal, Co-Founder & CRO, Stratbeans believes Budget 2026–27 will suppourt India’s shift to scaled AI adoption. With ₹1 lakh crore committed to research and emerging tech, focus moves from pilots to enterprise execution. Winners will embed AI across people, processes, and governance, redesigning workflows to deliver measurable productivity and quality gains through faster, repeatable execution.
Need for scaled AI adoption as Budget focuses on Execution
Union Budget 2026 has proposed the establishment of a high-powered Education to Employment and Enterprise Standing Committee to evaluate the impact of emerging technologies, including AI, on employment and skill requirements. The committee will recommend measures to align education with future workforce needs, including embedding AI in school curricula and upgrading State Councils of Educational Research and Training (SCERTs) to strengthen teacher training and capacity building.Rohit Kumar, Founding Partner, The Quantum Hub, said the Budget prioritises domestic capability and reduced strategic dependence, positioning AI as a governance and productivity multiplier. Its focus on compute, semiconductors, and data infrastructure, alongside tax holidays for data centres, customs duty exemptions, and expanded safe harbour norms, signals a trust-based regulatory shift that could cut litigation and boost investor confidence. However, it falls short on sustained R&D funding, private innovation incentives, and long-term access to frontier AI.
The committee will also suggest measures for upskilling and reskilling of technology professionals/engineers in AI and emerging technologies. Additionally, it will propose measures for AI-enabled matching of workers, jobs and training opportunities. Venka Reddy, CPO, QualiZeal, said Budget 2026 signals a turning point for India’s 6-million tech workforce. The Education to Employment and Enterprises Standing Committee bridges academia and industry, supporting India’s 10% global services ambition. Content creator labs in 15,000 schools, expanded AI Centers of Excellence, girls’ STEM hostels, and regional hubs democratise opportunity. Keshava Murthy, CEO & Co-founder, Matters.AI said Budget 2026 clearly signals the government’s intent to mainstream AI across governance, education, and agriculture through the AI Mission, the Education-to-Employment Standing Committee, and platforms like Bharat-VISTAAR. As AI moves from experimentation into everyday workflows across public systems, enterprises will mirror this adoption internally. That shift brings a new challenge, organisations must gain visibility into how AI systems interact with sensitive data. The next phase of AI adoption will be defined not just by capability, but by oversight.
Story Breif – India’s Union Budget 2026 allocates Rs 1,000 crore for the IndiaAI Mission, a cut from last year’s Rs 2,000 crore. A committee will assess AI’s job impact, integrate AI into education, and promote upskilling. The budget also plans AI integration across sectors like agriculture and assistive devices, alongside a tax holiday for foreign companies using Indian data centers to attract investment.
In the Union Budget 2026, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has proposed an allocation of ₹1,000 crore for Artificial Intelligence under the IndiaAI Mission for FY 2026–27. While this is lower than the ₹2,000 crore initially proposed last year, it represents an increase of ₹200 crore over the revised estimate of ₹800 crore. The funding, routed through the IndiaAI Mission, underscores the government’s continued commitment to strengthening India’s AI ecosystem and advancing its strategic priorities across industry, defence, and national security, positioning the country as a global AI leader.
Industry sees AI as India’s next growth multiplier
Union Budget 2026 graphs India’s shift from digital-first to intelligence-first, targeting 10% of the global services market by 2047 with AI as the growth multiplier said Srikanth Chakkilam, CEO and Executive Director, Covasant Technologies. Also, expanded IndiaAI Mission with 38,000 GPUs, Bharat Vistar multilingual AI, and the Education-to-Employment Standing Committee. With ₹1 lakh crore RDI funding and AI adding $1.7 trillion by 2035, India can lead agentic automation and trusted AI governance. Whereas, Pradeip Agarwal, Co-Founder & CRO, Stratbeans believes Budget 2026–27 will suppourt India’s shift to scaled AI adoption. With ₹1 lakh crore committed to research and emerging tech, focus moves from pilots to enterprise execution. Winners will embed AI across people, processes, and governance, redesigning workflows to deliver measurable productivity and quality gains through faster, repeatable execution.
Need for scaled AI adoption as Budget focuses on Execution
Union Budget 2026 has proposed the establishment of a high-powered Education to Employment and Enterprise Standing Committee to evaluate the impact of emerging technologies, including AI, on employment and skill requirements. The committee will recommend measures to align education with future workforce needs, including embedding AI in school curricula and upgrading State Councils of Educational Research and Training (SCERTs) to strengthen teacher training and capacity building.Rohit Kumar, Founding Partner, The Quantum Hub, said the Budget prioritises domestic capability and reduced strategic dependence, positioning AI as a governance and productivity multiplier. Its focus on compute, semiconductors, and data infrastructure, alongside tax holidays for data centres, customs duty exemptions, and expanded safe harbour norms, signals a trust-based regulatory shift that could cut litigation and boost investor confidence. However, it falls short on sustained R&D funding, private innovation incentives, and long-term access to frontier AI.
The committee will also suggest measures for upskilling and reskilling of technology professionals/engineers in AI and emerging technologies. Additionally, it will propose measures for AI-enabled matching of workers, jobs and training opportunities. Venka Reddy, CPO, QualiZeal, said Budget 2026 signals a turning point for India’s 6-million tech workforce. The Education to Employment and Enterprises Standing Committee bridges academia and industry, supporting India’s 10% global services ambition. Content creator labs in 15,000 schools, expanded AI Centers of Excellence, girls’ STEM hostels, and regional hubs democratise opportunity. Keshava Murthy, CEO & Co-founder, Matters.AI said Budget 2026 clearly signals the government’s intent to mainstream AI across governance, education, and agriculture through the AI Mission, the Education-to-Employment Standing Committee, and platforms like Bharat-VISTAAR. As AI moves from experimentation into everyday workflows across public systems, enterprises will mirror this adoption internally. That shift brings a new challenge, organisations must gain visibility into how AI systems interact with sensitive data. The next phase of AI adoption will be defined not just by capability, but by oversight.