FM holds pre-Budget meeting with IT sector

New Delhi: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday held pre-budget consultations with top leaders of the IT sector, as the USD 280 billion industry confronts AI disruptions, global uncertainties, and increased H-1B visa costs in its largest market, the US.

While the industry executives remained tight-lipped after the meeting about Budget wishlist, it is learnt that the discussions ranged from building computing capacities in India, to scaling up skilling initiatives, given the disruptions and opportunities around AI.

The meeting was also attended by Union MoS for Finance, Pankaj Chaudhary, secretaries of Department of Economic Affairs and IT ministry, Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran and other senior officials.

Industry honchos present in the meeting included Preeti Lobana, Vice President and Country Manager at Google India; Rajesh Varrier President - Operations, Chairman and Managing Director of Cognizant India; Sindhu Gangadharan, Chairperson of Nasscom, and MD of SAP Labs India among others. agencies