Budget 2026: Tech, GCCs set sail with safe harbour shield

Changes to the safe harbour regime that finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced on Sunday are expected to trigger a wave of investments into the country by new global capability centres (GCCs) or the research and development arms of multinationals, as they provide tax and policy certainty. The new proposals will help improve ease of doing business for new GCCs as well as for technology companies such as Microsoft and Google that have their largest centres outside the US in India, reducing chances of disputes over transfer pricing and lowering compliance burden.