Budget’s tech push

Even as technology and electronics manufacturing strategy has deepened, the challenge now lies in closing the remaining structural gaps

- RISHI RAJ

BUDGET FY27 MARKS one of the more coherent technology interventions seen in recent years, particularly in its treatment of electronics manufacturing as a system rather than a standalone policy objective.

Across cloud infrastructure, electronics components, logistics, capital equipment, and semiconductors, it has built on initiatives launched over the last few years and has attempted to close some of the structural gaps that have limited the country's ability to move up the global value chain. In that sense, it is less a pivot and more a reinforcement of a strategy that has already delivered measurable gains in mobile manufacturing, exports, and supplier depth.

The emphasis on long-term tax certainty for global cloud and data centre players, expanded support for electronics components, and amore nuanced understanding of contract manufacturing models reflects a maturing policy approach. Rather than focusing narrowly on assembly-linked incentives, the Budget has recognised that competitiveness in electronics depends on predictability, logistics efficiency, capital intensity, and ecosystem depth. This is evident in the attempt to reduce transfer-pricing disputes through safe-harbour provisions, encourage just-in-time manufacturing through bonded warehousing, and attract foreign-owned tooling and equipment into domestic manufacturing zones. These measures acknowledge that the next phase of growth in electronics will be driven less by wage arbitrage and more by reliability, scale, and integration with global supply chains.