India’s Public Cloud Spending Expected To Grow 28% To $17.5 Billion In 2026: Gartner
New Delhi, June 2: India’s spending on public cloud services is expected to witness strong growth in 2026, driven largely by rising enterprise demand for AI-ready infrastructure, application modernisation and scalable technology systems.
According to Gartner, end-user spending on public cloud services in India is projected to grow 28.1 per cent to reach $17.5 billion in 2026, compared to $13.7 billion in 2025.
AI Infrastructure Driving Cloud Spending Growth
Gartner said Indian enterprises are rapidly increasing investments in cloud infrastructure to support artificial intelligence and digital transformation initiatives.
Senior Principal Analyst Ashish Banerjee stated that organisations are prioritising AI-ready cloud infrastructure, digital sovereignty, scalable consumption-based IT models and advanced cloud use cases.
The report noted that Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) are expected to emerge as the fastest-growing segments in India’s cloud market.
IaaS And PaaS To Lead Expansion
IaaS spending in India is expected to grow by 40 per cent in 2026, making it one of the fastest-expanding cloud categories.
The increasing need for GPU-powered systems, high-performance computing, scalable storage solutions and continuous AI inference capacity is significantly boosting demand for cloud infrastructure services.
PaaS is projected to become the largest spending category for Indian organisations, reaching $6.4 billion in 2026.
According to Gartner, businesses are rebuilding their technology foundations to support AI-led operations, digital platforms and real-time services.
Enterprises Moving Beyond Basic Cloud Migration
Senior Principal Analyst Arunasree Cheparthi said organisations are now moving beyond simple cloud migration and focusing on platform-led execution.
The adoption of AI-driven technologies is helping enterprises connect systems, unify data, speed up software development and improve digital customer interactions.
While Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) will continue to grow, Gartner expects its expansion to remain relatively moderate compared to IaaS and PaaS.
The report stated that enterprises are increasingly optimising software licences and redirecting investments toward infrastructure and platform capabilities needed for AI deployment at scale.
Hybrid And Multicloud Governance Emerging As Key Challenge
Gartner also highlighted governance and management of hybrid and multicloud environments as a major challenge for enterprises over the coming years.
The company predicts that by 2030, more than 60 per cent of enterprises will run intensive AI model operations on one cloud while using data stored on another cloud platform. Currently, that number remains below 10 per cent.
The growing complexity of cloud ecosystems is expected to push organisations toward stronger governance systems, security frameworks and FinOps practices.
Focus Shifting Towards Disciplined Cloud Execution
Gartner advised infrastructure and operations leaders in India to move beyond cloud adoption and focus on disciplined cloud execution over the next 12 to 18 months.
The report emphasised the importance of AI-ready data infrastructure, security-by-design strategies, cost management maturity and flexible workload placement across hybrid and multicloud systems.
The findings reflect how AI adoption is rapidly reshaping India’s cloud computing landscape and accelerating enterprise technology spending.
