By Manoj Nair (Head of Applications at Fujitsu)
“The Hon’ble Finance Minister has presented a forward-looking Union Budget that strongly reinforces India’s Viksit Bharat ambition, and conducive policies to make India a global technology hub. There is a huge focus on AI by positioning it as a force multiplier, combined with robust policies to support the growth of data centres. The launch of the India Semiconductor Mission 2.0 will accelerate the development of a resilient semiconductor ecosystem, spanning materials, equipment, full-stack IP design, and enhancing supply chains.
The move to approve Safe Harbour for IT services through an automated, rule-based mechanism is a significant reform that enhances ease of doing business and provides certainty in taxation for the industry. Equally encouraging is the focus on positioning data centres as critical infrastructure, along with the proposal to extend tax holidays till 2047 for global cloud service providers operating from India.
Together, these measures will help in boosting investor confidence, enhance innovation, create long-term growth opportunities for semiconductor and IT services companies, including data centre players, while further strengthening India’s role in the global technology value chain.”