India's technology industry will generate $315 billion in revenue in fiscal year 2026, according to Nasscom's annual strategic review released in February. [1] The figure represents 6.1 percent growth over FY25's $297 billion and, for the first time, includes a separately quantified AI services line: $10 to $12 billion annually. [2]

The AI number matters more than the headline. For two years, the dominant narrative about AI and Indian IT was existential threat — that generative AI would automate the coding and back-office work that built Infosys, TCS, and Wipro. Nasscom's data tells a different story. Indian IT companies are not being replaced by AI; they are selling AI. The $10 to $12 billion figure captures implementation services, model fine-tuning, data engineering, and AI-powered analytics that global enterprises are outsourcing to Indian firms because the talent base is already there. [1]

Nasscom's characterization is precise: the industry has moved "from experimentation to industrialization." Pilot projects that occupied 2024 and 2025 are now production deployments with recurring revenue. The services model — India's core competitive advantage — is adapting its product, not its structure. [2]

Exports, which account for the majority of revenue, grew 5.6 percent. Domestic consumption of tech services also rose, driven by the government's digital infrastructure push and private-sector AI adoption that lagged the West by roughly 18 months but is now accelerating.

-- PRIYA SHARMA, Delhi