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Industry brief · Software

Software, where our guest builds tools for riding businesses

One Building Real guest works in software. In India, Karthik Srinivasan and his co-founders are building Everything Motorcycling, a marketplace for motorcycle tours, riding schools and stays, with booking and operations software for the businesses that run them. This brief covers India's software industry around him, from exports, developers and funding to hiring, AI compute and data-protection rules.

India
Checked 20 Oct 2026 · every figure linked to its source · next review Jan 2027

01At a glance

US$221.4bn

software services exports by Indian companies in 2025-26, up 8.2%, excluding sales through their overseas commercial presence, according to the RBI's annual survey1

RBI's measure covers computer services and IT-enabled services such as BPO. It is not the same measure as Nasscom's export estimate
54.1%

of India's software services exports went to the US in 2025-26, followed by Europe with 31.8%, according to the RBI's annual survey2

One year's survey. Shares from earlier releases are not compared here
84.7%

of India's software services exports in 2025-26 were cross-border supply, services delivered from India to clients abroad, according to the RBI's annual survey3

38,000+

GPUs onboarded to a common compute facility under the IndiaAI Mission, which has an outlay of Rs 10,372 crore4

The GPUs come from empanelled private providers. The outlay is an allocation, not money spent
1,101.21 million

broadband subscriptions in India at the end of August 2026, including machine-to-machine connections, TRAI reports5

Subscriptions, not people. The count includes machine-to-machine connections

02How big it is and where it sells

Exports, by the RBI's survey

Share of India's software services exports, 2025-26 (RBI)

US
54.1%
Europe
31.8%

The US took 54.1% of India's software services exports in 2025-26, followed by Europe with 31.8%, according to the RBI's annual survey2.

  • With foreign affiliates. Including services delivered by foreign affiliates of Indian companies, India's total software services exports rose 9.5% to US$239.3 billion in 2025-26, according to the RBI's annual survey6.
  • What is sold. Computer services accounted for over two-thirds of India's software services exports in 2025-26, and BPO remained the dominant component of IT-enabled services exports7.
RBI's software services cover computer services and IT-enabled services, including BPO. Nasscom's export estimate is a different measure and is not set against these figures.

Nasscom's estimates for the industry

  • Whole industry. Nasscom estimates India's technology industry revenue, including hardware, grew 6.1% to US$315 billion in FY268.
  • Home market. Nasscom expects revenue from India's domestic technology market to grow 7.9% in FY26, PTI reported9.
  • Software products. Nasscom expects revenue from Indian software products to rise to US$23 billion in FY26, from US$21 billion in FY25, PTI reported10.
Industry-body estimates published in February 2026. The industry total also counts IT services, BPM, engineering services and hardware. Nasscom restated its earlier year on wider coverage, so these figures should not be compared with its older releases. Software products is Nasscom's segment, not a count of SaaS companies.

Developers, by GitHub's count

  • Accounts. GitHub's Octoverse 2025 counted 21.9 million developers in India on its platform and projects India will reach 57.5 million by 203011.
  • Open source. India added more than 5.2 million developers on GitHub in 2025 and overtook the US as the largest contributor base to public and open-source projects on GitHub, according to GitHub's Octoverse 202512.
GitHub accounts, not employed developers. The 2030 figure is GitHub's projection. Contributor base counts people, not the volume of contributions.

03How AI is showing up

What Nasscom counts

  • AI revenue. Nasscom estimated the Indian tech industry's overall AI revenues at US$10-12 billion in FY26, PTI reported13.
  • Skills. Over 2 million Indian tech professionals were upskilled in AI during FY26, including 2-3 lakh trained in advanced AI, according to Nasscom, as reported by The Core14.
Nasscom estimates relayed by the press. Outlets describe the AI revenue figure in different ways and Nasscom's summary does not publish its definition; 'upskilled' is not defined either.

Hiring and headcount

  • Sector. Nasscom projects direct employment in India's tech sector to grow 2.3% in FY26, while it puts industry revenue growth at 6.1%15.
  • Large IT services firms. Combined headcount at TCS, Infosys, HCLTech, Wipro and Tech Mahindra fell by 7,389 in FY26, against a net addition of 12,718 in FY25, IANS reported16.
  • TCS. TCS ended FY26 with 584,519 employees, down 23,460 from a year earlier, according to its fourth-quarter results17.
  • A founder's view. Entrepreneur India reported that Zoho co-founder Sridhar Vembu cited the rising cost of AI and data-centre infrastructure as one reason for weaker IT hiring18.
No source here measures how much AI has caused slower hiring or lower headcount. TCS's HR head did not cite AI for its drop, and IANS lists a focus on AI as one factor among several. Company headcounts are global, not India-only. Vembu's view is the outlet's paraphrase, not a finding.

04Where the money is moving

Start-up funding: Nasscom-Zinnov's count

  • Funding. Indian tech start-ups raised US$9.1 billion in 2025, up 23% year on year, by Nasscom-Zinnov's count19.
  • Deals. Nasscom-Zinnov counted over 140 technology M&A deals in India's start-up ecosystem in 2025, nearly double 2024, with Indian corporates accounting for about 36% of M&A activity20.
  • Start-ups. Nasscom-Zinnov estimate India has 31,000 to 34,000 tech start-ups21.
All tech start-ups, not software only. The release does not define what it counts as a tech start-up or as funding.

Start-up funding: Tracxn's count

  • Funding. Tracxn counted US$10.5 billion raised by Indian tech start-ups in 2025 (data to 15 December), down 17% from US$12.7 billion in 2024, ranking India third globally behind the US and the UK22.
  • Sectors. Enterprise applications were among the three top-funded sectors for Indian tech start-ups in 2025, alongside retail and fintech, by Tracxn's count23.
The two trackers use different definitions and data windows, and for 2025 they point in opposite directions. Read each on its own; they are not combined or compared here. Tracxn's enterprise applications category is wider than SaaS.

Global capability centres

  • Centres and people. Nasscom and Zinnov estimate India had 2,117 global capability centres (GCCs) in FY26, with 2.36 million people working in them24.
  • Revenue. Nasscom and Zinnov estimate revenue of global capability centres in India at US$98.4 billion in FY2625.
Estimates from one Nasscom-Zinnov report. GCCs are in-house centres run by multinational companies and span many functions, not only software. Older government figures come from a different document and are not compared here.

05What the government is changing

AI compute and data protection

  1. Compute prices. STPI's director general said the government offers access to AI compute for as low as Rs 65 an hour26.
  2. Data protection. India notified the Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, with an eighteen-month period for phased compliance27. Under the wider framework, the highest penalty, up to Rs 250 crore, applies to a data fiduciary's failure to maintain reasonable security safeguards28.
  3. IndiaAI projects. The IndiaAI Mission had approved 190 projects, 46 of them with start-ups and MSMEs, Minister of State for IT Jitin Prasada said in the Lok Sabha29.
  4. IndiaAI compute. More than 38,000 GPUs have been onboarded to a common compute facility under the IndiaAI Mission, which has an outlay of Rs 10,372 crore4.
The IndiaAI outlay is an allocation, not money spent, and the compute price is a floor. The penalty is a ceiling set in the DPDP Act, not a typical fine. The IT ministry proposed in early 2026 to shorten the compliance window; we found no notification of that change, so check the current position before relying on any deadline.

Public digital networks

  • Open commerce network. As of November 2025, India's Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) was delivering in nearly 1,100 cities and towns, with over 344.5 million recorded orders, IBEF reports30.
  • Broadband. India had 1,101.21 million broadband subscriptions, including machine-to-machine connections, at the end of August 2026, TRAI reports5.
  • Phone access. Rural tele-density in India was 61.12% at the end of August 2026, against 155.00% in urban areas, by TRAI's count, which includes machine-to-machine connections31.
IBEF compiles ONDC figures; they are not ONDC's own data. TRAI counts subscriptions, not people, and urban tele-density above 100% reflects more than one connection per person.

06Trends to watch

Revenue is growing faster than headcount

Nasscom projects direct employment in India's tech sector to grow 2.3% in FY26, while it puts industry revenue growth at 6.1%15. Combined headcount at TCS, Infosys, HCLTech, Wipro and Tech Mahindra fell by 7,389 in FY26, IANS reported16. No source here measures how much of this is due to AI.

The government is renting out AI compute

More than 38,000 GPUs have been onboarded to a common compute facility under the IndiaAI Mission4, and STPI's director general said access starts as low as Rs 65 an hour26. The mission had approved 190 projects, 46 of them with start-ups and MSMEs, by 25 March 202629.

Enterprise software draws money and buyers

Enterprise applications were among the three top-funded sectors for Indian tech start-ups in 2025, alongside retail and fintech, by Tracxn's count23. Nasscom-Zinnov counted over 140 technology M&A deals in India's start-up ecosystem in 2025, nearly double 202420.

Exports still lean on the US and on work done from India

The US took 54.1% of India's software services exports in 2025-26, according to the RBI's annual survey2. Cross-border supply, services delivered from India to clients abroad, made up 84.7% of them3.

India's developer base on GitHub keeps growing

GitHub's Octoverse 2025 counted 21.9 million developers in India on its platform and projects 57.5 million by 203011. India added more than 5.2 million developers on GitHub in 202512.

07The problem our guest is solving

Karthik Srinivasan on Building Real
India

EP08Karthik Srinivasan · Everything Motorcycling

33%

of tours, activities and attractions gross bookings worldwide were made online in 2025, against 64% for the global travel industry, Phocuswright estimates, with the online share projected to reach 42% by 202932

A global estimate by Phocuswright with Arival, not India data, and not specific to motorcycle tours. The 2029 figure is a projection.

Karthik Srinivasan says that when he tried to book a Ladakh ride, motorcycling's tours, schools and stays were scattered across websites and Instagram DMs, often with 'DM for price'. In the episode he explains how he and his co-founders are building Everything Motorcycling, a commission-based marketplace for tours, riding schools, moto-stays, festivals and races, and a software backend that tour operators, schools and stays can use for inventory, bookings and ride planning instead of Excel and WhatsApp. He says the platform has two-way reviews and uses DigiLocker for rider verification, and that he built much of it himself with AI tools.

  • The public layer he uses. DigiLocker, the government's digital document wallet, shows more than 70 crore registered users and more than 900 crore issued documents on its homepage33.
DigiLocker counters are registered accounts, not active users. DigiLocker is public infrastructure; the figure describes it, not Everything Motorcycling.
Watch the episode →

See how these conversations connect on the Discovery Atlas →

08Sources

One research agent gathered 40 figures from government, regulator and established data sources. A separate red-team agent then reopened every source, checked each number, its scope and its date, and looked for newer or conflicting data. It kept 9 figures as written, corrected 28 and cut 3. Each figure above links to its source below, with the date it refers to.

  1. Reserve Bank of India: Survey on Computer Software and ITES Exports 2025-26 (18 Sep 2026) · 2025-26 (April-March), RBI survey released 18 Sep 2026
  2. Reserve Bank of India: Survey on Computer Software and ITES Exports 2025-26 (18 Sep 2026) · 2025-26, RBI survey released 18 Sep 2026
  3. Reserve Bank of India: Survey on Computer Software and ITES Exports 2025-26 (18 Sep 2026) · 2025-26, RBI survey released 18 Sep 2026 (Table 8)
  4. Digital India / MeitY: IndiaAI Mission release (last updated 17 Apr 2026) · Page last updated 17 Apr 2026 (count as of Mar 2026)
  5. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, Press Release 125/2026 (28 Sep 2026) · End-August 2026, released 28 Sep 2026
  6. Reserve Bank of India: Survey on Computer Software and ITES Exports 2025-26 (18 Sep 2026) · 2025-26, RBI survey released 18 Sep 2026
  7. Reserve Bank of India: Survey on Computer Software and ITES Exports 2025-26 (18 Sep 2026) · 2025-26, RBI survey released 18 Sep 2026
  8. Nasscom: Strategic Review 2026, Executive Summary (first print Feb 2026) · FY2025-26 estimate (FY26E), published Feb 2026
  9. PTI on ETV Bharat, 24 Feb 2026, reporting Nasscom Strategic Review 2026 · FY2025-26 estimate, published 24 Feb 2026
  10. PTI on ETV Bharat, 24 Feb 2026, reporting Nasscom Strategic Review 2026 · FY2025-26 estimate, published 24 Feb 2026
  11. GitHub: Octoverse 2025 (github.blog, 28 Oct 2025) · Octoverse 2025 (published 28 Oct 2025); 2030 is GitHub's projection
  12. GitHub: Octoverse 2025 (github.blog, 28 Oct 2025) · Calendar 2025, Octoverse 2025 (published 28 Oct 2025)
  13. PTI on ETV Bharat, 24 Feb 2026, reporting Nasscom Strategic Review 2026 · FY2025-26 estimate, published 24 Feb 2026
  14. The Core, 24 Feb 2026, reporting Nasscom Strategic Review 2026 · FY2025-26, reported 24 Feb 2026
  15. Nasscom: Strategic Review 2026, Executive Summary (first print Feb 2026) · FY2025-26 estimate (FY26E), published Feb 2026
  16. IANS, 25 Apr 2026, compiling company results · FY2025-26 (to 31 Mar 2026), reported 25 Apr 2026
  17. Business Today, 15 Apr 2026, reporting TCS Q4 FY26 results · As of 31 Mar 2026, reported 15 Apr 2026
  18. Entrepreneur India, 4 Aug 2026 · Reported 4 Aug 2026
  19. Nasscom-Zinnov Indian Tech Start-up Report (Zinnov press release, 25 Feb 2026) · Calendar 2025, report released 25 Feb 2026
  20. Nasscom-Zinnov Indian Tech Start-up Report (Zinnov press release, 25 Feb 2026) · Calendar 2025, report released 25 Feb 2026
  21. Nasscom-Zinnov Indian Tech Start-up Report (Zinnov press release, 25 Feb 2026) · 2025, report released 25 Feb 2026
  22. Tracxn India Tech annual report, via CXOToday (18 Dec 2025) · 1 Jan to 15 Dec 2025, reported 18 Dec 2025
  23. Tracxn India Tech annual report, via CXOToday (18 Dec 2025) · 1 Jan to 15 Dec 2025
  24. Nasscom-Zinnov India GCC Landscape Report 2026 (May 2026) · FY26 estimate (data as of March 2026), report published May 2026
  25. Nasscom-Zinnov India GCC Landscape Report 2026 (May 2026) · FY26 estimate, report published May 2026
  26. Inc42, 10 Sep 2025 · Stated Sep 2025
  27. Press Information Bureau (MeitY) backgrounder on DPDP Rules 2025 (17 Nov 2025) · Notified 14 Nov 2025; PIB backgrounder 17 Nov 2025
  28. Press Information Bureau (MeitY) backgrounder on DPDP Rules 2025 (17 Nov 2025) · DPDP Act 2023 and Rules 2025, as summarised by PIB 17 Nov 2025
  29. IANS via NewsGram, 25 Mar 2026, reporting a Lok Sabha answer · As stated 25 Mar 2026
  30. India Brand Equity Foundation, E-commerce industry page (updated Sep 2026) · As of Nov 2025 (IBEF page last updated Sep 2026)
  31. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, Press Release 125/2026 (28 Sep 2026) · End-August 2026, released 28 Sep 2026
  32. Phocuswright with Arival, 'The Outlook for Travel Experiences 2019-2029' (Feb 2026) · 2025 estimate; 2029 projection; published Feb 2026
  33. DigiLocker (MeitY / National e-Governance Division) homepage · Homepage counters as viewed 20 Oct 2026 (page last updated 12 Oct 2026)