‘Why India, why now’: FM Sitharaman pitches India as global investment and manufacturing hub
New Delhi, Aug 29 (IANS) India offers a compelling combination of scale, talent, infrastructure, technology and sustained reforms for global investors as companies reassess their supply chains and capital allocation, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday at a high-level business roundtable in Chicago.
Addressing leading investors and business leaders, FM Sitharaman highlighted India’s broad-based economic growth, reform momentum and expanding opportunities for long-term investment, urging global companies to look beyond India as a market and consider the country as a platform to manufacture, innovate and build for the world.
The Finance Minister said the theme of “Manufacture in India — for India and for the world” captures the growing opportunities available to global businesses across manufacturing, artificial intelligence and digital technologies, financial services, infrastructure, food processing, defence and advanced technologies.
Outlining “Why India, Why Now”, FM Sitharaman pointed to strong domestic demand, investment-led growth, macroeconomic resilience, a deep talent pool and rapidly expanding digital and physical infrastructure as key strengths of the Indian economy.
The finance minister said India’s investment proposition was not dependent on any single sector, but on the convergence of multiple structural strengths that have developed over the past decade.
On digital technology and AI, FM Sitharaman highlighted India’s Digital Public Infrastructure, including Aadhaar, UPI, DigiLocker, ONDC and India Stack, saying these platforms have been developed at population scale.
She said the next opportunity lies in building higher-value businesses in areas such as AI, engineering, analytics, product development, semiconductors and electronics. India’s Global Capability Centres, she added, are increasingly evolving into global innovation hubs.
The Finance Minister also invited global financial institutions to explore opportunities at GIFT City, noting that GIFT International Financial Services Centre had 1,250 registered entities as of June 2026.
She said GIFT IFSC is emerging as an international financial centre connecting global capital with Indian opportunities, with scope for businesses in banking, fund management, reinsurance, aircraft and ship leasing, sustainable finance and other cross-border services.
On manufacturing, FM Sitharaman said the reconfiguration of global supply chains presents a significant opportunity for India, given its large domestic market and increasingly competitive manufacturing capabilities.
–IANS
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