India's Data Breach Costs Soar to ₹25.5 Crore Amid Rising Cyber Threats

The average cost of data breaches in India has reached an all-time high of ₹25.5 crore, according to a recent report by IBM. This represents a notable increase of 16% from last year's figure of ₹22 crore. The number of compromised records also saw a growth, with an average of 39,500 records affected in 2026, up from 38,200 in the previous year.

Gaurav Agarwal, Vice President of Technology at IBM India and South Asia, noted that artificial intelligence adoption is enabling cyber threats to evolve rapidly. He emphasized the need for AI with agentic capabilities to be embedded across the full security lifecycle, from detection and analysis to prioritization and remediation.

The report highlighted significant variations in breach costs depending on organizations' use of AI and automation in security operations. Those with no AI and automation paid an average of ₹31.6 crore per breach, while those with extensive use incurred an average cost of ₹21.3 crore, and those with limited deployment faced an average cost of ₹23.1 crore.