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India Clarifies 20-Year Tax Holiday for Foreign Cloud Firms Using Local Data Centres

Finance Ministry sources detailed eligibility rules to reassure firms that global income stays outside India’s tax net.

Overview

  • The exemption applies from the 2026–27 tax year through 2046–47, taking effect on April 1, 2026.
  • To qualify, a foreign company must be officially notified, procure services from an Indian-company data centre, use a MeitY-notified facility, and route services to Indian users through an Indian reseller entity.
  • Officials said qualifying foreign providers will not face Indian taxation on global income merely for using Indian data centres.
  • Profits from resident data-centre services and from Indian resellers’ sales to local customers will continue to be taxed in India, with a 15% safe-harbour margin where the data centre is a related cost-plus entity.
  • Treatment is identical whether the Indian data centre is independently owned or a subsidiary of the global firm, and the scheme’s rollout awaits formal MeitY and related notifications.