When it comes to the information technology sector, the government is now more vested in long-term readiness and innovation to benefit all other sectors, industry experts point out. In the 2026-27 budget, it has raised the plan allocation for IT to Rs 548.05 crore from the previous Rs 517.27 crore -- a fact that has been welcomed by those in the sector.
According to Sreekumar V, secretary, Group of Technology Companies (GTech), the highlight of the budget in terms of the IT sector has been the announcement regarding the use of tech innovations.
“This provides ample opportunity for startups in the state, on the lines of how Thiruvananthapuram corporation has deployed a robotic solution developed by Genrobotics to clean the Amayizhanchan canal. It is a very progressive statement. Something that is unprecedented. Another piece of positive news is the separate fund allocations made in the budget for Technopark, Infopark and the Cyberpark. The general impression was that these IT parks might not get fund allocations and will function in self-sustainable mode,” he added.
Technopark, Infopark and Cyberpark have been earmarked Rs 25 crore, Rs 21.60 crore and Rs 12.10 crore respectively.
The money will go a long way in helping companies, especially in the MSME category, participate in trade fairs abroad, said Sreekumar. “Such fairs have helped participating companies build good business connections,” he added.
According to Manjit Cherian, CEO of Marketing as Sales support (MaSs), Kerala’s IT budget this year is less about immediate growth and more about long-term readiness.
“It prepares the state to participate in the digital economy, but success will depend on how quickly businesses convert this readiness into innovation, exports, and scalable digital services," said Manjit.
The budget also highlighted how the government is planning to develop a cyber valley on the 300 acres of Kochi Infopark phase III. It will function as a hub of IT, IT-based services, artificial intelligence and other new technologies. The project, proposed as a public-private partnership (PPP) endeavour, has been earmarked Rs 30 crore.
Industry experts have welcomed the decision to allocate Rs 20 crore for the activities of the Kerala Technology Innovation Zone in Kochi. An amount of Rs 70.52 crore has also been set apart for the activities of the Youth Entrepreneurship Development Programme (YEDP), including corporate acceleration and scale-up support.