Focus on Scale, Resilience, Better Governance: Ms. Nirmala Sitharaman to India Inc
- IBEF
- September 23, 2026
Finance Minister Ms. Nirmala Sitharaman asked Indian industry to focus not just on scale but also on building stronger, more resilient and better-governed enterprises as the country works towards the goal of Viksit Bharat by 2047. Addressing an AIMA event in New Delhi, Ms. Nirmala Sitharaman said Indian industry needs to build institutions that combine scale with durability, higher quality, better governance and deeper technological capabilities, noting that India has the market scale, entrepreneurial energy and institutional capacity to aim higher, with execution determining how successfully these strengths convert into lasting national capability. She urged businesses to engage constructively with government and regulators, stressing that not every disagreement need begin as litigation, and that trust between businesses must be built through conduct on both sides.
Ms. Nirmala Sitharaman said India's next phase of growth must be built on quality, urging corporates to spend more on R&D and shift ambition from "Made in India" to "Imagined in India" products conceived, designed and developed domestically. She noted India's Gross Expenditure on R&D stands at 0.83% of GDP, well below the OECD average of 2.7%, China's 2.6% and the US's 3.5%, with domestic private sector R&D contribution at just 36% compared to over 70% in leading advanced economies. She also called for practical management education for founders and family businesses and urged corporate leadership to avoid designing only for the urban elite, noting India's consumption base rests on working families across agriculture, rural construction, transport and informal enterprise, with growing opportunities in sectors such as space and nuclear energy opening to private participation.
Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.
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