Finance minister pitches ‘manufacture in India for the world’ at Chicago business roundtable

NEW DELHI: Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman addressed a high-level Business Roundtable with leading investors and business leaders in Chicago, focusing on opportunities across manufacturing, AI and digital, financial services, infrastructure, food processing, defence, and advanced technologies.

According to the Ministry of Finance on X, a central theme of the discussions centred on the proposition of manufacturing in India, both for domestic requirements and for global export markets. “A key focus of the meeting was ‘Manufacture in India — for India and for the world’, with opportunities across manufacturing, AI & digital, financial services, infrastructure, food processing, defence and advanced technologies,” the ministry said.

Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Smt. @nsitharaman addressed a high-level Business Roundtable with leading investors and business leaders in Chicago today, highlighting India’s broad-based growth, reform momentum and expanding opportunities for long-term investment.… pic.twitter.com/1SpNHb0bfR

— Ministry of Finance (@FinMinIndia) August 29, 2026

In her address to international investors, the Finance Minister detailed the core factors driving India’s economic appeal, noting a combination of strong domestic demand, investment-led expansion, macroeconomic resilience, a deep talent pool, and expanding physical and digital infrastructure.

She pointed out that as international corporations reassess global supply chains and capital allocation strategies, India presents substantial scale alongside long-term operational depth. “Digital Public Infrastructure — including Aadhaar, UPI, DigiLocker, ONDC and India Stack — has created platforms at population scale,” the Finance Minister stated during the address.

She noted that the next phase involves building higher-value operations in artificial intelligence, analytics, engineering, semiconductors, and electronics, with Global Capability Centres across the country developing into global innovation hubs.

Addressing the financial sector, the minister highlighted the expansion of GIFT IFSC as an international centre connecting global capital with domestic ventures. The hub recorded 1,250 registered entities as of June 2026, creating avenues across banking, fund management, reinsurance, aircraft and ship leasing, sustainable finance, and related cross-border services.

On industrial manufacturing, the discussion underscored the shift beyond basic assembly toward deeper component manufacturing, engineering, and advanced technologies, supported by policy measures such as the Production Linked Incentive scheme.

At the same time, national infrastructure expansion, spanning freight corridors, railway modernization, and electrification, continues to open avenues for institutional capital through platforms like the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund.

Sitharaman also highlighted opportunities in agricultural processing, driven by rising incomes and changing consumption patterns, alongside domestic technological expansion in defence, drones, and autonomous systems under initiatives like Atmanirbhar Bharat and iDEX.

Sitharaman emphasized that India’s investment proposition rests not on any single sector, but on the convergence of scale, growth, talent, infrastructure, technology and sustained reform over the past decade. She added that the prevailing policy environment remains focused on enabling enterprises to invest, manufacture, innovate, and expand.

The Finance Minister invited global partners to co-develop, co-produce, and build for global markets, encouraging firms to view the country as an integrated manufacturing base, innovation centre, and destination for long-term capital investment. The roundtable was organised by the Consulate General of India in Chicago in association with the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum. (ANI)