The Union Budget on Sunday proposed a tax holiday till 2047 for foreign companies that provide cloud services to customers globally using data centres located in India, signalling the government's push to make the country a major hub for AI and digital infrastructure.
The government's Budget announcements providing tax holiday for data centres, setting up of city economic regions (CERs) and funding to improve infrastructure in Tier-II and -III cities may give an indirect boost to India's realty sector, said industry executives.
Across all sectors, the future of work depends on adaptability.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has directed state agencies and public universities to suspend new H-1B visa petitions through May 2027, a move likely to affect Indian professionals. The order comes amid ongoing debate over skilled immigration and potential impacts on academic research and innovation.
'When AI comes in, coders in Bangalore or Hyderabad will lose their jobs.'
Mukund Mohan, Microsoft Ventures India director, to head US, China, India operations.
Budget 2026 sticks to fiscal discipline, shuns populist measures despite five key state elections coming up, but ends up rattling stock markets with a higher transaction tax on derivatives trading.
'More and more people from the middle class will become self-employed gig workers mostly working from home, rather than as office workers with salary, promotion, bonuses, etc.'
Asia takes the lead, boasting four Indian cities on the list, according to the 2024 Savills Growth Hubs Index.
With 18,000 employees already, NatWest eyes 3,000 engineers in India by next year to strengthen its AI and data capabilities.
...compared with 153,000 in all of 2024.
India, the world's fourth largest economy, is set to maintain the 'goldilocks' phase with tailwinds of good growth, low inflation and robust banking performance as well as reform initiatives poised to sustain the economic pace witnessed during 2025.
Microsoft India on Tuesday said it has collaborated with Invest India to support tech startups in the country. As part of the partnership, the Microsoft for Startups programme will work closely with Accelerating Growth of New India's Innovations (AGNIi Mission) - a programme of the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, a statement said. Housed and executed by Invest India, AGNIi Mission helps startups become enterprise-ready.
'It's fitting that we're coming together on the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi. The ideals he championed, the equality and dignity of every person, are foundational to the work we do.'
India hosts the event from a position of unprecedented strength with a string of titles under its belt.
'The danger is that when the music stops, the fall will be sudden, faster, and deeper than anyone expects,' warns Debashis Basu.
'India has the maths talent, academic institutions, and research institutions to do the next big thing.'
According to Randstad Employer Brand Research (REBR) 2020, Microsoft India scored high on financial health, strong reputation and utilisation of the latest technologies. Others in the top 10 list are Samsung, Amazon, Infosys, Mercedes-Benz, Sony, IBM, Dell, ITC and TCS.
Amid a massive global outage that hit operations of airlines, banks and businesses across the globe, Microsoft on Friday said that it is aware of the issue affecting Windows devices due to an update from a third-party software platform.
AI is changing jobs in India faster than ever, but professionals are learning the real skill isn't coding -- it's adaptability.
Who else will take on the might of Microsoft, Google, and Amazon if not the Adanis, Ambanis, Birlas, or Tatas?, asks R Jagannathan.
The South East Asia-Middle East-Western Europe 4 cable is operated by a consortium of telecom companies including Tata Communications.
The US has replaced random H-1B selection with a wage-weighted lottery and a new $100,000 fee for applications, raising uncertainty for students and junior hires.
Initially, the lure of a big paycheck may feel rewarding. But, over time, professionals find themselves drifting away from family, friends and personal joys, observes Pradeep Pramanik.
'The battle for brain power among Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Nvidia and Tesla and newer AI companies is fierce.' 'Given the race for AI with China, these companies will find it hard pressed to fill that talent gap,' notes an IT professional based in the US.
Tech giant Microsoft regained the top spot in the list of best employers to work for in India in 2024, followed by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Amazon, according to a Randstad Employer Brand Research report released on Wednesday. Microsoft had topped the list in 2022, but slipped to fifth in 2023. The 2024 list is based on responses from 3,507 people.
Tech giant Microsoft has unveiled a blueprint for India on artificial intelligence (AI) governance, and proposed a regulatory architecture to oversee safety protocols, according to a whitepaper released on Thursday. The whitepaper titled "Governing AI: A Blueprint for India" comes amid Microsoft raising its stakes in its artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT. The proposed AI regulatory architecture includes regulations prescribing safety and security requirements, then license deployment for permitted uses in a licensed Al data centre with post-deployment safety and security monitoring and protection.
EPF doesn't just build your retirement fund -- it also provides free life insurance up to Rs 7 lakh under the EDLI scheme.
'Our problem is not a budget deficit but a trust deficit. We need to trust our institutions and industries to innovate and lead. That is the way forward for India.'
'Amazon, Meta, Google, Microsoft have large operations in India and rely on smooth trade and data flows.' 'Restrictions could raise their costs, limit AI chip exports, and complicate their India strategies.'
As artificial intelligence (AI) threatens to replace jobs, a new report from Microsoft has suggested that Indian employees are caught between a fear of losing jobs and an opportunity to reduce workload by delegating tasks to technology. Microsoft's Work Trend Index 2023 found that while 74 per cent of Indian employees are worried about AI replacing their jobs, 83 per cent would delegate as much work to it as possible, to help lessen their workloads. More than three in four Indian workers would be comfortable using AI not just for administrative tasks (86 per cent), but also for analytical work (88 per cent), and for the creative aspects of their role (87 per cent).
China is likely to deploy Artificial Intelligence-generated content via social media to sway public opinion to boost its geopolitical interests during elections in countries like India, South Korea and the US, tech giant Microsoft has warned.
'Returning Indians can leverage their international skills and the strong funding environment for start-ups here.'
"Live Search Maps for India will allow users to search for geographical information, places of general interest and business listings both on the PC and on mobile phones," said Microsoft India Consumer and Online Marketing Operations Head Rishi Srivastava. Microsoft's map services will offer detailed listings and street maps for nine cities, business listings across 29 cities and access to highway networks to 20,000 cities and towns.
'When global politics has some intervention on the core software one uses, and if you are cut off from your own data in critical workflows, sovereignty is no longer optional. It becomes a necessity.'
Avoid donating without checking the receipt proforma showing the political party's ECI registration number and PAN.
'Because of the size and complexity of the economy, we can address almost every job that is there, from agriculture farming to healthcare.'
Global tech giants surprisingly prefer skills over IIT and IIM tags which no longer guarantee entry into the world's most innovative workplaces.
'The Indian developer community is one of the most vibrant communities.' 'Indian builders are incredibly passionate, curious, and excited to embrace new technologies.'
