Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, recommended stock market participants to ''pick up'' information technology stocks and urged them to 'have faith' in India's IT services ecosystem. Speaking at the launch of NITI Aayog's report on India's technology services, 'Reimagination Ahead', Goyal suggested that people should ''have faith in our IT services ecosystem as this sector will never die''.
The minister also warned those who remain ''behind the curve could possibly be in danger of extinction''. ''Those in stock market need to be educated that our companies are at the cutting edge of technology. They need not have such a depressed outlook as companies are well prepared to embrace the future,'' said Goyal. He then recommended that for those who have money to spare, ''it's possibly a good time to pick up IT stocks''.
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Notably, Goyal's comments come after shares of domestic software majors slid over 5% earlier today, pushing the Nifty IT index to a near 10-month low, as persistent fears of AI-led disruption and fading hopes of a near-term US Federal Reserve rate cut weighed on sentiment. The 10-member Nifty IT index was the worst-performing sector on the day and remains the weakest so far this year, after sliding 12.6% in 2025 and a further 12.2% in 2026.
Domestic IT stocks have shed 14% since Feb. 4 when the selloff began, resulting in TCS - previously India's fourth-most valuable stock - sliding to sixth place. Shares of Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, and HCLTech fell 5.5%, 5.7%, and 4.1%, respectively, on the day. Indian IT stocks have been battered the most, while peers in Asia, Europe and North America have recovered slightly.
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India AI Impact Summit 2026
This comes ahead of the India AI Impact Summit 2026 which New Delhi is set to host from Feb. 16-20. The summit is set to be one of its biggest technology gatherings yet and is expected to position India firmly at the centre of the global artificial intelligence conversation. The AI Summit will bring together industry leaders, policymakers, researchers, innovators and technology experts from across the world. Prime Minister Modi, along with French President Emmanuel Macron, will formally launch the summit on Feb. 19.
Around 20 heads of state and top global AI leaders are expected to attend, underlining the summit's geopolitical and technological significance. Among the headline speakers are Nvidia Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Industry leaders, such as Bill Gates and Nandan Nilekani, are also slated to participate.
The summit is being hosted at the Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, spanning over five days, covering policy, research, innovation and public engagement in the field of AI. A high-level CEO roundtable with the prime minister is expected, with Tata Sons Chairperson N Chandrasekaran and Bharti Enterprises Chairperson Sunil Mittal likely to be part of the discussions.
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