As the Union Budget 2026 sets out a roadmap for strengthening India’s growth architecture, one of the quieter but structurally important signals lies in the way connectivity, technology, and services are being aligned to support experience-led and creative industries. While manufacturing and infrastructure often dominate market narratives, the Budget’s focus on tourism connectivity, skills, and digital ecosystems points to a broader ambition, positioning India’s ‘orange economy’ as a scalable export engine.
The orange economy, spanning audiovisual, gaming, animation, design, culture, and tourism-led services, sits at the intersection of creativity and commerce. For markets, the question is whether policy support can translate this cultural capital into sustained foreign exchange earnings and globally competitive enterprises.
Tourism as a Platform for Export-Led Services
A key announcement in Union Budget 2026 is the proposed push to improve last-mile and remote-area connectivity through incentives for the indigenisation of seaplane manufacturing, alongside the introduction of a Viability Gap Funding (VGF) scheme for seaplane operations. While positioned as a tourism initiative, the market implications extend beyond hospitality.
Improved access to coastal, island, and niche destinations can expand the addressable market for experience-based services, including heritage tourism, cultural events, film locations, and immersive digital content tied to physical destinations. For listed hospitality firms, regional airport operators, and travel-tech platforms, this could support longer-term demand visibility, particularly in premium and international travel segments.
From an export perspective, tourism-linked services are effectively ‘onshore exports’, generating foreign currency inflows without traditional goods shipments. The policy signal, therefore, aligns with a services-led growth model that complements India’s existing strengths in IT and business services.
AVGC and Skills: Building the Creative Production Pipeline
Although the Budget’s headline announcements focus on manufacturing and infrastructure, the broader services strategy, including the proposed ‘Education to Employment and Enterprise’ Standing Committee, has implications for creative and digital industries.
The committee’s mandate to assess the impact of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence on jobs and skills can directly influence the AVGC (Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, and Comics) ecosystem. These sectors rely heavily on digitally skilled talent, global collaboration, and IP creation.
For markets, this raises two important themes:
Platform and Services Growth: Training platforms, edtech firms, and digital infrastructure providers could see rising demand if creative and tech skills are prioritised as part of the services export agenda.
IP Monetisation Potential: As Indian studios and content creators scale globally, intellectual property rather than project-based services becomes a key driver of valuation and margin expansion.
The Orange Economy and Global Market Access
The orange economy’s export potential is closely tied to digital distribution and international market access. India’s growing role in global content production, from post-production services to gaming backends and digital design, positions creative industries as a natural extension of the country’s services export portfolio.
Policy emphasis on connectivity and digital infrastructure indirectly supports this model by reducing geographic and logistical barriers. Tourism initiatives, in particular, can act as a catalyst for cross-sector collaboration, where physical destinations become backdrops for global content, marketing campaigns, and interactive digital experiences.
For investors, this creates a multi-layered opportunity set spanning:
Media and entertainment companies with global syndication or streaming partnerships
IT services firms offering gaming engines, cloud infrastructure, and digital production tools
Niche players in experiential travel, event management, and cultural IP development
Market Implications: From Culture to Capital
Unlike traditional manufacturing sectors, the orange economy is driven by intangible assets, brand, creativity, and intellectual property. This shifts the market narrative from capacity expansion to scalability and monetisation.
Union Budget 2026’s focus on long-term services leadership and tourism connectivity suggests a policy environment that favours:
Asset-light growth models with high operating leverage
Cross-border revenue streams insulated from domestic demand cycles
Valuation re-rating potential for firms that successfully transition from service providers to IP owners
However, the sector also faces challenges, including fragmented industry structures, limited formal financing for creative MSMEs, and exposure to global demand cycles.
While Budget 2026 signals intent rather than immediate fiscal outlays for the creative economy, its alignment of tourism, skills, and digital services points to a broader strategy of export diversification. The success of this approach will depend on how effectively connectivity schemes, skill frameworks, and regulatory clarity translate into bankable projects and globally competitive firms.
For markets, the orange economy represents a thematic opportunity that sits between technology, services, and consumer demand. If policy execution keeps pace with ambition, creative industries could evolve from a domestic growth story into a meaningful contributor to India’s export and capital market narrative.
Wrapping Up
As policy intent around connectivity, skills, and services converges, the orange economy is moving into sharper focus as a potential export growth lever. For investors, the key will be tracking which companies can convert creative capability into scalable, globally monetised business models.
*The article is for information purposes only. This is not investment advice.
