The Union Budget 2026-27 proposed a measures for the services, artificial intelligence and semiconductor sectors, including the setting up of a committee to assess the impact of AI on jobs.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her Budget speech, proposed to set up a High-Powered ‘Education to Employment and Enterprise’ Standing Committee to recommend measures that focus on the services sector.

"This will make us a global leader in services, with a 10% global share by 2047," she noted.

She said the committee will prioritise areas to optimise growth, employment and exports, and will also assess the impact of emerging technologies, including AI, on jobs and skill requirements, and propose measures to address these changes.

The Finance Minister underscored that the 21st century is technology-driven, and said technology adoption is intended to benefit a wide range of users.

"Adoption of technology is for the benefit of all people - farmers in the field, women in STEM, youth keen to upskill and Divyangjan to access newer opportunities," she stated.

She highlighted how the government has taken several steps to support new technologies through AI Mission, National Quantum Mission, Anusandhan National Research Fund, and Research, Development and Innovation Fund over the years.

The government also proposes to deploy AI in agriculture. It announced the launch of Bharat-VISTAAR, a multilingual AI-based tool that will integrate government agricultural data platforms and advisory systems to provide customised decision support to farmers, with the stated objectives of improving productivity and reducing risk.

Sachin Tayal, managing director, Protiviti, said, "An important provision has been made for data centers and cloud service providers operating in India, which offers a long-term tax holiday. This strengthens India's goal of becoming a global center for cloud, AI, and data-led services and makes digital infrastructure a national priority. It is a significant step toward expanding the digital economy, drawing in international investment, and producing skilled jobs."

The Budget 2026 introduces liberalization under the Portfolio Investment Scheme (PIS) for Persons Resident Outside India (PROIs) (including NRIs, OCIs, and other overseas residents). The PIS allows non-resident Indians and foreign investors to buy and sell Indian stocks through a special bank account approved by the RBI. The FM proposed raising the investment cap for individual PROIs to 10% from the existing 5%. She also announced an increase in the aggregate investment limit for all individual PROIs to 24% from 10% for all PROIs combined.

The Finance Minister also announced a review of Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) rules related to non-debt instruments.

"This move simplifies direct equity access under FEMA regulations. The 10% cap allows individual PROIs and family offices to build meaningfully larger, more concentrated, long-term holdings in Indian companies. The 24% aggregate cap reduces the risk of foreign ownership ceilings being hit, preventing forced selling and facilitating easier collective participation," Scripbox founder and CEO Atul Shinghal said. "Investing via PIS-linked accounts is now more seamless, lowering entry barriers, compliance costs, and time lags. Easier inflows, over 2-3 years, are expected to improve liquidity and potentially enhance returns through a valuation uplift."