India's IT spend may rise 10.6% to $176 billion in 2026: Gartner

India's IT spending is projected to grow faster than the global average in 2026, driven by rapid expansion of data centres, rising cloud adoption and accelerating investment in GenAI-enabled software

India’s information technology (IT) spend is projected to touch $176.3 billion in 2026, rising 10.6 per cent from 2025, and outpacing the 9.8 per cent growth expected globally, according to the latest forecast by Gartner Inc., a business and technology insights company. 

 

The growth is being propelled by investments in data centres and software, according to its latest forecast.

 

For 2025, Gartner had projected 11.2 per cent growth in India’s IT spend, taking it to $160 billion.

 

The data centre segment in India is projected to record the highest annual growth rate, surging 20.5 per cent in 2026. It would continue to outpace all other IT segments despite moderating from 29.2 per cent in 2025, said the report.

 

“Enterprises in India are accelerating their adoption of Cloud and digital technologies, which will drive sustained and robust growth in IT spend in 2026,” said DD Mishra, vice-president (V-P) analyst at Gartner.

 

“As the uncertainty pause, that began earlier this year eases, rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure will fuel new investment in data centres in India,” he added.

 

Mishra added that this expansion in India is happening as the current availability of data centres is not sufficient to handle the growth that the country is expected to see. The other reason for the growth is the rise of data localisation norms.

 

Almost all the major players in the data centre segment in India are in expansion mode.

 

Moreover, India’s data centre growth is being propelled by the entry of players like Reliance and the Adani group.

 

Naresh Singh, senior director analyst at Gartner, said, “India has one of the largest consumer bases for AI services globally, attracting international investment in local infrastructure to support this expanding user base. Evolving data privacy and sovereign Cloud requirements are expected to drive growth in this segment through 2026.” 

 

Gartner added that the software spend in India is projected to increase 17.6 per cent in 2026, reaching $24.7 billion. This comes as Indian enterprises ramp up investment in AI-enabled software solutions and modern IT infrastructure.

 

As GenAI increasingly permeates software, it is poised to become a standard, embedded component across nearly all applications.

 

Gartner forecasts that by 2026, global spending on software with GenAI will surpass spending on software without GenAI.

 

“IT services spend in India is forecast to grow 11.1 per cent in 2026, with double-digit growth projected over the next few years — averaging between 12 per cent and 14 per cent,” said Mishra.

 

He added, “This momentum is driven by strong enterprise investments in infrastructure as a service (IaaS), consulting and application modernisation. The rapid growth of global capability centres (GCCs) and access to a highly skilled, cost-effective workforce are expected to further fuel the sector’s progress.”