India's Data Breach Costs Soar as Automation Gap Widens

The average cost of a data breach in India has reached an all-time high of INR 255 million (25.5 crore), up 15.9 percent from last year, according to IBM's 2026 Cost of a Data Breach report.

This increase is largely attributed to the lack of AI-driven security automation in Indian organisations, with only 32 percent reporting extensive use. The remaining two-thirds have either limited or no automation, leading to significantly higher breach costs.

Organisations without automation paid an average of INR 316 million per breach, compared to INR 213 million for those with extensive automation - a 48 percent difference.