Modi Govt Aligns Policy, Tech And Industry On Cyber Defence Amid AI-Driven Threats, $15 Billion Market Boom

Mumbai: India is sharpening its cybersecurity strategy as rapid digitisation exposes critical infrastructure, financial networks and citizen data to increasingly sophisticated threats. The Narendra Modi government is placing cybersecurity at the centre of national security and economic stability, with adversaries now deploying artificial intelligence (AI) to breach systems and disrupt essential services.

The central government is aligning policy, industry and technology to build national cyber resilience as the cybersecurity market is projected to expand from $6.56 billion in 2026 to $15.06 billion by 2031 at an 18% CAGR. The urgency is backed by market momentum. The services segment alone is forecast to reach $8.4 billion by 2034, driven by surging digital payments, e-commerce and cloud adoption.  

According to experts, the cyberattacks targeting critical infrastructure, financial systems and citizen data have surged, with adversaries increasingly using artificial intelligence to exploit vulnerabilities. The officials warned that threats now extend beyond data breaches to disruption of economic stability and essential services.

Against this backdrop, the second edition of CyberSec India Expo 2026 opened its doors as the event is designed as a forward-looking platform that brings together technology leaders, policymakers and security innovators to align industry capability with national priorities.

The event is supported by key national initiatives, including Digital India and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), reinforcing its role as a collaborative forum to advance the country’s cybersecurity agenda. The organisers said that the expo is to bridge innovation, policy and enterprise action to build a secure and resilient digital India.

The experts at the expo underlined that cybersecurity can no longer depend on passwords alone. UIDAI Director Akshay Yadava stressed that organisations must embrace strong identity frameworks built on multi-factor authentication and continuous verification. In a nation with more than 1.4 billion ‘Aadhaar’ identities driving digital transactions, he said, consent-based authentication, such as face verification and controlled data sharing, is vital to curb fraud and give citizens greater control. He added that artificial intelligence is emerging as a powerful enabler, improving efficiency and threat detection, but it must be used responsibly to strengthen resilience. 

Lt Gen Madhavan Unnikrishnan Nair warned that adversaries are increasingly using AI to exploit vulnerabilities at the intersection of human behaviour and connected devices. At the same time, he noted, AI offers powerful tools to detect anomalies across the digital ecosystem. With the Digital Personal Data Protection Act in place, he said India must now focus on establishing clear “rules of the digital highways,” including stronger identity frameworks for both devices and users to ensure trusted access.  

As cyber threats grow in scale and sophistication, the experts asserted that the expo serves as a critical enabler for building a secure, future-ready digital India through shared responsibility and coordinated action.

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