FM Sitharaman urges global firms to 'manufacture in India, build for world'
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday invited global investors to establish manufacturing bases, technology and innovation centres in India, saying the country offers a platform to build for global markets.
Speaking at a high-level Business Roundtable with leading investors and business leaders in Chicago on August 28, 2026, Ms. Sitharaman highlighted India's broad-based growth, reform momentum and expanding opportunities for long-term investment.
The Finance Minister said 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.
“The policy environment is increasingly focused on enabling businesses to invest, manufacture, innovate and expand,” she said at the roundtable organised by India's Consulate General in Chicago in association with the U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Forum.
Ms. Sitharaman invited global partners to co-develop, co-produce and build for global markets. She urged them not to consider India merely as a market to serve, but as a platform from which to build for the world — whether as a manufacturing base, technology and innovation centre, consumer market or destination for long-term infrastructure investment.
The focus of the meeting was “Manufacture in India — for India and for the world”, with opportunities spanning manufacturing, AI and digital, financial services, infrastructure, food processing, defence and advanced technologies.
“As global companies reassess supply chains and capital allocation, India offers not only scale as a market, but increasing depth as a long-term investment and operating platform,” Ms. Sitharaman said.
The Minister noted that India's Digital Public Infrastructure — including Aadhaar, UPI, DigiLocker, ONDC and India Stack — has created platforms at population scale. “The next opportunity is to build higher-value businesses in AI, engineering, analytics, product development, semiconductors and electronics, with India's Global Capability Centres increasingly becoming global innovation hubs,” she said.
Ms. Sitharaman also highlighted GIFT City as an emerging international financial centre. With 1,250 registered entities as of June 2026, it offers opportunities across banking, fund management, reinsurance, aircraft and ship leasing, sustainable finance and other cross-border services. She invited global institutions to explore GIFT City as a gateway to India's financial ecosystem.
On manufacturing, she said that with global supply chains being reconfigured, India offers a compelling combination of a large domestic market and globally competitive manufacturing capabilities. The focus is moving beyond assembly towards deeper component manufacturing, engineering and advanced technologies, supported by targeted policy measures including production-linked incentives.
Ms. Sitharaman also spoke on India's infrastructure build-out — from dedicated freight corridors and railway modernisation to electrification and high-speed rail — which offers opportunities across engineering, technology, materials, specialised equipment and long-term institutional capital. She mentioned the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund as a commercially driven platform for global investors.
On agriculture, she said India's agricultural base, rising incomes and changing consumption patterns are creating opportunities across food processing, automation, packaging, logistics and cold chains, with potential to build businesses serving both Indian and global markets.
The Finance Minister said initiatives such as Atmanirbhar Bharat and iDEX are building domestic capabilities in drones, autonomous systems and other advanced technologies.
Ms. Sitharaman is on a six-day visit to the United States and is scheduled to hold further meetings with investors and government officials.
