Industry Expectations from Union Budget 2026

As reported by ZeeBiz in its live coverage of Union Budget 2026 expectations, industry leaders have shared views on policy priorities and areas that could support technology-led growth and innovation in India.

As India moves steadily toward an AI-first digital economy, the Union Budget 2026 is expected to play a defining role in accelerating innovation-led growth across the technology ecosystem especially for companies building in AI, software, and enterprise communication.

In a recent media mention, Vikram M. Raichura, Founder & Managing Director, Helo AI, highlighted that policy support in this budget can meaningfully increase the pace at which Indian tech companies invest in AI, automation, and next-generation digital platforms.

Key expectations highlighted

Vikram emphasized three focus areas that could strengthen India’s AI readiness and execution:

1) Higher allocation under the IndiaAI Mission

Greater funding can improve access to national AI programs and accelerate ecosystem development—especially for applied AI use cases and enterprise adoption.

2) Better tax incentives for R&D

Stronger R&D-linked incentives can help technology companies confidently invest in product engineering, model development, and long-term innovation.

3) Policies that reduce the cost of AI infrastructure

Lowering costs tied to AI infrastructure, cloud, and data processing can unlock faster experimentation and scaled deployment—making it easier for companies to operationalize automation across real business workflows.

Why this matters for enterprise communication and automation

AI-led experiences in customer communication across messaging, notifications, and support depend heavily on compute, cloud efficiency, and predictable innovation incentives. With the right budget support, more companies can move from pilots to production deployments at speed, while continuing to invest in reliable digital platforms.

About Helo AI

Helo.ai is an AI-powered Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) provider that helps businesses manage and automate customer communications across multiple channels such as SMS, WhatsApp Business API (WABA), RCS, Voice, Email, and chat automation

Source: Budget 2026 LIVE industry reactions, January 21, 2026

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