As India looks ahead to Union Budget 2026, the debate within marketing, media, and the digital ecosystem is shifting in tone. Instead of asking what will deliver immediate relief, industry leaders are focusing on what could structurally change the way digital growth is built in the country.
Over the last decade, India has mastered digital scale. The next phase, many argue, must be about building long-term capability — in skills, infrastructure, innovation, and entrepreneurship. Sanjay Trehan, Digital and New Media Advisor, sees this as an opportunity for policy to activate the entire ecosystem rather than intervene in isolated pockets.
“Digital is an ecosystem-based overarching framework. Hence, I would expect the Budget to help unleash the animal spirits by playing an enabling role in boosting upskilling and AI readiness with a view to catalyse creation and adoption of indegenous AI, incentivising start-ups to create a virtuous cycle of growth and reducing taxation on digital advertising to boost deployment when eCPMs and yields are falling. Also, policy support for the emerging creator economy would also help in building a million entrepreneurs.”
If skills and startups shape the top of the ecosystem, its foundation lies in where artificial intelligence itself is built and operated. For Karthik K Raman, CMO & Head of Product, Flam AI, Budget 2026 must move the conversation from AI usage to AI ownership.
“Ahead of Union Budget 2026, the priority must be shifting India from AI adoption to AI sovereignty. With a $16.01 billion advertising market and over 800 million connected users, India is already operating at a massive scale. But to truly define the global AI-first marketing models of the future we need advanced infrastructure.
We look forward to the Budget treating AI as critical public utility, unlocking faster scale through targeted GPU infrastructure, regulatory sandboxes for deep-tech, and sovereign compute capacity. With AI projected to add $1.7 trillion to our economy by 2035, the 2026 Budget is our moment to ensure that value is not just consumed in India, but computed and created in India, a vital step toward a Viksit Bharat.”
Beyond skills and innovation, financial structure is emerging as a powerful growth lever. Anand Bhadkamkar, Group CFO, LS Digital, believes the digital and marketing economy needs to be recognised not just as a service layer, but as foundational infrastructure for modern business.
“The single most impactful move the Union Budget can make is to formally recognise MarTech and Digital Media as infrastructure. This would unlock long-term fiscal benefits for the sector, For instance, applying TDS only on agency fees instead of gross media pass-through costs would immediately ease the liquidity pressure most agencies operate under. Coupled with tax credits for indigenous AI and data R&D and a unified, tech-led GST compliance layer, this shift would reduce friction, attract patient capital, and transform India from a digital consumer into a global innovation hub.”
As media becomes increasingly technology-led, investment cycles are also changing. Platforms such as programmatic DOOH, retail media, and AI-driven advertising require upfront capital, making tax policy a direct driver of innovation speed. Siddharth Dabhade, Group Chief Business Officer, Lemma, argues that faster capital recovery could unlock a new phase of infrastructure-led growth.
“One policy move that could significantly accelerate growth in India’s marketing and digital ecosystem is a structured tax incentive or accelerated depreciation framework for digital infrastructure investments—especially programmatic DOOH, retail media tech, and AI-led ad platforms. Enabling faster capital recovery would catalyse innovation, formalise fragmented inventory, and position India as a global hub for scalable, tech-driven media infrastructure.”
Yet, no ecosystem can grow without talent willing to take risk. For Kartik Mehta, CBO and Head of Asia, Channel Factory, the way ESOPs are taxed today directly affects innovation, mobility, and startup momentum.
“The upcoming budget should look at focusing on fixing ESOP taxation in the quickest way possible. Along with focusing on India-specific AI models and the digital properties, the government should also make some announcements around ESOP. Taxing ESOPs before liquidity discourages people from taking risks and switching jobs. This affects talent mobility and innovation in the industry. Delaying taxes on ESOPs until liquidity and making ESOP grants simpler would help Indian startups grow faster. This will reduce the talent crunch, fuel innovation, and scale up startups without heavy government investment.”
Taken together, these perspectives highlight a clear opportunity for Budget 2026 to build a strong, enabling framework that connects skills, capital, innovation, and entrepreneurship into one growth engine.
By supporting indigenous AI, modern digital infrastructure, startup risk-taking, and talent mobility, the Union Budget can help accelerate India’s transition from digital scale to digital leadership, positioning the country not just as a market for technology but as a global creator of it.
