India opens doors to global manufacturers, innovation hubs: Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has extended a fresh invitation to global investors to set up manufacturing bases and innovation centres in India, positioning the country as an attractive destination for long-term capital deployment. Addressing a high-level business roundtable in Chicago on Friday, Sitharaman highlighted India's broad-based economic expansion and decade-long reform momentum as catalysts for investment growth.

Sitharaman stressed that India's investment case rests on multiple converging strengths rather than sectoral concentration. "The policy environment is increasingly focused on enabling businesses to invest, manufacture, innovate and expand," she said at the event, organised by India's Consulate General in Chicago alongside the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum.

The Finance Minister pointed to India's unique combination of scale, growth prospects, workforce talent, infrastructure development and sustained policy reform as foundational pillars for investor confidence. She called on global partners to leverage these advantages for co-development and co-production initiatives that serve international markets.

The outreach reflects New Delhi's continued efforts to diversify India's foreign direct investment base and position the nation as an alternative manufacturing hub amid global supply chain realignment. India's macroeconomic stability and demographic dividend have already attracted significant international interest in recent years.