Nirmala Sitharaman, India's Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister, reiterated the appeal of India as a long-term investment destination to global businesses at a meeting in Chicago. She highlighted various factors contributing to this appeal including scale, economic growth, skilled talent, infrastructure, technological advancement, reform momentum, manufacturing opportunities, AI and digital advancements, financial services, infrastructure development, food processing, defence technology, and advanced technologies.
Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman addressed a high-level Business Roundtable with leading investors and business leaders in Chicago, United States. During her speech, she emphasized the convergence of scale, sustained economic growth, skilled talent, world-class infrastructure, technological advancement, and a decade of consistent reforms as key factors contributing to India’s investment appeal.
Sitharaman highlighted that 'Manufacture in India – for India and for the world' offers opportunities across various sectors including manufacturing, AI and digital, financial services, infrastructure, food processing, defence, and advanced technologies. She pointed out that India’s Digital Public Infrastructure has created platforms operating at population scale, such as Aadhaar, UPI, DigiLocker, ONDC, and India Stack.
The Minister further discussed India's next phase of growth in AI, engineering, analytics, product development, semiconductors, and electronics. According to Sitharaman, Global Capability Centres are increasingly evolving into global innovation hubs.
Sitharaman also underlined that GIFT IFSC is emerging as an international financial centre connecting global capital with Indian opportunities. She discussed the reconfiguration of global supply chains and India's ability to combine a large domestic market with globally competitive manufacturing capabilities, focusing on deeper component manufacturing, engineering, and advanced technologies, supported by Production Linked Incentive schemes.
Highlighting initiatives such as Atmanirbhar Bharat and iDEX, Sitharaman said that India is strengthening domestic capabilities in drones, autonomous systems, and other advanced technologies. She invited global partners to co-develop, co-produce, and build for global markets, urging them to view India not merely as a market to serve but as a platform from which to build for the world.
The Roundtable was organized by the Consulate General of India in Chicago in association with the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum.
Source:
Akashvani News
