Union Budget 2026: Powering India’s Digital Commerce & Startup Ecosystem

Mr. Rohit Bansal, Co-Founder, Titan Capital & Snapdeal, Promoter - Unicommerce said:

"In the middle of all the manufacturing and capex talk in Budget 2026, one policy stood out.

Global cloud companies will now get a tax holiday till 2047 for running data centres in India.

This is a big deal. This exempts global-facing data centre income from Indian income tax for over two decades.

Data centres involve high upfront capex, long gestation periods, and returns that are extremely sensitive to taxation, power costs, and utilisation certainty.

A near 20-year tax holiday materially changes the math. Project IRRs improve sharply. Payback periods compress. Large capex decisions become meaningfully de-risked. Crucially, this comes on top of India’s existing advantage: a deep pool of high-quality engineering and operations talent at globally competitive costs. From network engineering and cloud operations to cybersecurity and facilities management, India already offers scale without the wage inflation seen in mature hubs.

The downstream impact is just as important. Hyperscale data centres anchor high-quality jobs across construction, electrical and cooling systems, network engineering, cybersecurity, and long-term facility operations. Each large campus also catalyses local ecosystems: renewable power, transmission infrastructure, fibre networks, hardware supply chains, and managed services.

Few fiscal measures combine long-term capital attraction, skilled job creation, and export competitiveness as cleanly as this one."

Mr. Achint Setia, CEO of Snapdeal, adds:
"Budget 2026 makes several practical improvements to the operating environment for e-commerce and digital-first businesses. The complete removal of the ₹10 lakh cap on courier exports meaningfully expands cross-border opportunities for small Indian brands. Faster tax dispute resolution and simpler compliance processes lower execution friction for growing companies. Support for MSMEs through growth funds, liquidity enhancement, access to CPSE purchases, and a focus on reviving MSME clusters in traditional hubs will boost economic activity in smaller towns. Together, these measures strengthen MSMEs and India’s digital commerce ecosystem."

Mr. Kunal Bahl, Co-founder, AceVector and Titan Capital, Chairman, CII National Startup Council said,

"Budget 2026 is pragmatic and enabling, with a sharp focus on Employment, Enterprise, Education, Emerging Tech and Exports. The strong push for MSMEs and big bets on semiconductors, biopharma & AI infra signal confidence and growth. This continues a longer series of intent driven moves, from the ₹1 lakh crore RDI Fund to the ₹1,000 crore space tech fund, signalling policy consistency. The strong push for MSMEs and big bets on semiconductors, biopharma and AI infrastructure reinforce confidence in India’s growth story. Bharat continues to build strongly”.

 Kapil Makhija, MD & CEO of Unicommerce, said:
"Budget 2026 underscores the Government’s focus on a future-ready economy, with measures such as the ₹10,000 crore MSME Growth Fund, AI-led development and stronger logistics connectivity. The removal of the ₹10 lakh courier export cap is a timely boost for cross-border e-commerce, easing trade friction and enabling MSMEs and digital brands to scale globally."