Industry leaders across real estate, insurance, FMCG, infrastructure, telecom, biotechnology and hospitality sectors are calling for targeted fiscal support, tax rationalization and faster policy execution ahead of Union Budget 2026. The collective demand centers on sustaining India's growth momentum amid global uncertainty through ease of doing business measures, affordability initiatives and long-term policy visibility.

Real Estate Sector Seeks Growth-Focused Incentives

Real estate developers are prioritizing policy continuity and buyer-friendly measures, particularly for the National Capital Region (NCR) market. The sector's key demands focus on supporting residential and commercial activity through multiple policy interventions.

Ashish Agarwal, Director at AU Real Estate, emphasized that stable policies and growth-focused incentives will be crucial for sustaining momentum in the NCR luxury housing market. He noted that increasing incomes, wider global exposure and preference for secure, amenity-rich communities are driving demand for premium homes.

Parvinder Singh, CEO of Trident Realty, highlighted that infrastructure bottlenecks and approval delays remain key challenges. The sector is also pushing for easier access to home loans and incentives for first-time buyers to support long-term demand.

Senior Living Recognition Sought

The upcoming Budget presents an opportunity to formally recognize senior living as a distinct real estate category. Anil Godara, Founder and Managing Director of J Estates, said the aging population requires well-designed, secure retirement communities with appropriate policy support including GST rationalization and clear guidelines.

Insurance Industry Demands Enhanced Tax Benefits

Insurance companies are advocating for deeper tax incentives and broader risk coverage to improve market penetration. The sector's expectations span health insurance, agricultural insurance and life insurance reforms.

Subrata Mondal, Managing Director and CEO of IFFCO-TOKIO General Insurance, welcomed recent GST rationalization on health insurance but emphasized that current income-tax deduction limits under Section 80D do not reflect rising medical inflation. He suggested doubling the deduction would encourage households to opt for adequate health cover.

Sharad Mathur, MD and CEO of Universal Sompo General Insurance, said achieving 'Insurance for All by 2047' requires shared digital infrastructure and sustained funding for insurance literacy programs.

FMCG and Telecom Sectors Eye Growth Support

FMCG players remain optimistic about continued consumption support through policy measures. Praveen Jaipuriar, CEO of CCL Products (India) Ltd, noted that GST rationalization in 2025 helped improve affordability and demand across key consumer categories. The sector is also highlighting the role of Free Trade Agreements in boosting export competitiveness.

The telecom sector seeks targeted support for transitioning toward AI-native networks. Industry leaders are calling for strengthened production-linked incentives for indigenous manufacturing and capex support for next-generation infrastructure to boost India's self-reliance and global competitiveness.

Hospitality and Coworking Sectors Push for Industry Status

The hospitality sector continues advocating for comprehensive infrastructure status beyond current partial recognition. Shwetank Singh, Executive Director of Chalet Hotels Limited, emphasized that infrastructure classification unlocks soft financing and rationalized costs, while bringing tourism into the concurrent list can improve Centre-State coordination.

Coworking operators are pushing for tax rationalization to support India's hybrid work transition. Sanjay Chatrath, Co-founder and Managing Partner of Incuspaze, said lowering GST on coworking services and allowing full input tax credit on fit-outs would improve cost efficiency.

Infrastructure and Cement Outlook

Infrastructure spending remains a key growth lever for the cement sector. Maitri Vira, Assistant Vice President and Sector Head at ICRA, expects sustained government focus on infrastructure, rural economy and affordable housing to support cement demand growth of 6-7 percent in FY2027. Rural housing and infrastructure account for over half of cement consumption, making increased allocations toward roads, railways, metros and urban infrastructure critical for volume visibility.

As Budget 2026 approaches, industry expectations reflect a clear demand for policy continuity, targeted tax relief and infrastructure-led growth. The government's response to these sectoral demands will significantly influence investment sentiment and economic momentum in the coming year.

India's data centre industry is pushing for comprehensive support in Budget 2026, seeking renewable energy incentives, funding assistance, and multi-year bankable government contracts as the sector experiences unprecedented growth driven by artificial intelligence demands. The budget, scheduled for presentation on February 1, is expected to prioritize AI and data centres as the government aims to attract substantial global investment.

Major Investment Commitments Drive Industry Growth

The past year has witnessed record-breaking investments from global technology giants, highlighting India's strategic importance in the AI ecosystem. Despite generating nearly 20% of the world's data, India currently hosts only about 3% of global data centre capacity, creating massive investment opportunities.

Industry Seeks Policy and Financial Support

Sunil Gupta, Co-Founder, CEO & MD of Yotta Data Services and chairman of ASSOCHAM National Data Centre Council, emphasized that AI compute demand has already exceeded initial projections despite the IndiaAI Mission establishing a strong policy foundation. "Expanding both the scale and scope of IndiaAI compute funding will be important to ensure timely access to infrastructure," he stated.

The industry is specifically requesting:

• Bankable, multi-year contracts and public sector workloads
• Accelerated depreciation benefits
• Access to sovereign green bonds
• Incentives linked to renewable energy usage

Infrastructure Costs and Energy Challenges

AI-driven demand has significantly altered data centre economics, with power and electrical infrastructure representing the largest capital expenditure block. According to Greyhound Research, these costs account for 35-45% of total investment, while cooling and thermal management consume 15-20%, potentially rising to 25% for AI-heavy builds.

Sanchit Vir Gogia, CEO and Chief Analyst at Greyhound Research, stressed the importance of targeted support: "Predictable multi-year power economics, streamlined open access, and rationalised levies matter more than generic incentives. Support for advanced cooling and efficiency upgrades matters more than broad slogans."

Double Taxation Concerns for Global Providers

The industry faces significant regulatory challenges regarding foreign cloud service providers. Nasscom highlighted concerns that current arrangements between local data centre operators and global CSPs may create Permanent Establishment issues, potentially leading to double taxation and compliance uncertainty.

"Any further attribution of income to foreign CSPs would result in double taxation and significant compliance uncertainty. This risk has a bearing on investments by several global cloud providers and data centre investors," Nasscom stated in its pre-budget submission.

Strategic Infrastructure Recognition Needed

Industry leaders view Budget 2026 as a crucial opportunity for government support of sovereign-grade data centre infrastructure. AS Rajgopal, MD and CEO of Nxtgen Cloud Technologies, emphasized that "The Budget can play a catalytic role by recognising data centres as strategic national infrastructure underpinning India's digital and AI-led growth."

Vishnu S, Head of Product and Marketing at E2E Networks, noted that growing cloud adoption, expansion of global capability centres, and 5G rollout will make robust data centre infrastructure increasingly critical for India's digital transformation.