India IT shift to deep tech

India’s technology industry is shifting its pitch from software services to products in artificial intelligence, chips and space, speakers said at TiEcon Chandigarh on April 10-11. (tieconchandigarh.com) At the Chandigarh event, Software Technology Parks of India Director General Arvind Kumar said India’s software exports started at ₹52 crore in 1991-92 and total exports have now crossed about ₹19 lakh crore. He said exports from Software Technology Parks of India-registered units alone exceed ₹10 lakh crore. (government.economictimes.indiatimes.com) TiEcon Chandigarh billed its 2026 gathering as the 11th edition and said more than 2,000 founders and leaders, 80 speakers and policymakers would attend under the theme “Indigenous Innovation, Global Impact.” The speaker list included Arvind Kumar, Haryana Governor Ashim Kumar Ghosh, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini. (tieconchandigarh.com; newzmirror.in) The shift reflects a long-running change in India’s export mix. Invest India said services exports reached $387.5 billion in fiscal year 2024-25, while total exports hit a record $824.9 billion, showing India is still a services power even as manufacturing expands. (investindia.gov.in) Electronics is one of the clearest examples of that expansion. A March 26, 2025 government release said mobile phone exports rose from ₹1,566 crore in 2014-15 to ₹1.2 lakh crore in 2023-24, and India had more than 300 mobile manufacturing units by 2025. (pib.gov.in) Artificial intelligence is now backed by a national spending plan, not just conference rhetoric. India’s cabinet approved the IndiaAI Mission on March 7, 2024 with an outlay of ₹10,371.92 crore over five years, including public compute infrastructure and startup financing. (pmindia.gov.in) Semiconductors are the hardware side of the same strategy. The India Semiconductor Mission says it is the nodal agency for semiconductor and display schemes designed to build a full ecosystem from chip design to manufacturing. (ism.gov.in) Space is following a similar path from state-led activity to startup participation. The Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre says it is the single-window agency for private space activity, and the Union Cabinet approved a ₹1,000 crore venture fund for the sector in October 2024. (inspace.gov.in; isro.gov.in) Arvind Kumar said the next leg of growth is likely to come from tier-2 and tier-3 cities, where Software Technology Parks of India is pushing incubation, cloud access and startup programs. That would move the industry further from the outsourcing model that defined India’s first software boom. (government.economictimes.indiatimes.com) That leaves India trying to do two things at once: keep its vast software-services machine growing, and build more intellectual property at home. TiEcon Chandigarh’s message was that the second phase will be judged less by fast exits than by whether Indian firms own more of the technology they sell. (government.economictimes.indiatimes.com; tieconchandigarh.com)