B-DIA Urges National Asset Status for India’s Critical Strategic Data

• Data should be deemed a protected “national asset”, not controlled by foreign cloud hyperscalers.
• Indian cloud providers need PLI-style incentives to build sovereign infrastructure and reduce foreign dependency.
• Mandatory encryption, audits, and taxes on foreign data monetization are essential safeguards for strategic sovereignty.

The newly formed Bharath Digital Infrastructure Association (B-DIA), comprised of home-grown cloud and digital infrastructure players such as VVDN Technologies, E2E Networks, and Seclore, has proposed classifying India’s strategic data as a “national asset”, placing it alongside critical resources like oil, power, and defense.

B-DIA insists that all government and public-sector data and applications must be hosted within sovereign cloud environments to safeguard national interests. The association has actively communicated its demands to the Prime Minister’s Office, Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and discussions.

The group advocates for production-linked incentive (PLI)-like schemes to bolster Indian cloud service providers’ (CSPs) capabilities and competitiveness. It also recommends removing references to open data in free trade agreements and rejecting clauses that require surrendering source code, concerns raised during India–UK FTA negotiations.

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Further, B-DIA proposes a sovereign data value tax on foreign CSPs and SaaS operators that monetize Indian user data; mandates India-controlled encryption and internet protocols to prevent backdoor vulnerabilities; and calls for government-enforced data backups, physical audits, and source code access from foreign vendors in sovereign sectors.

Highlighting the risks of foreign dominance, B-DIA points out that about 90 percent of India’s cloud infrastructure market is controlled by foreign hyperscalers monetizing data via offshore Virtual Private Clouds (VPCs), while Indian CSPs earning roughly ?10,000 crore pay full taxes. In contrast, global players made over ?23,000 crore in 2023-24 cloud revenues while contributing little tax domestically.

B-DIA estimates 66 percent of government data is presently outside the country with foreign CSPs, mostly on VPCs not within original intent and an increasing interest in the domestic CSPs indicates a move back to a more sovereign cloud infrastructure.