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Informist, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026

 

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--Sitharaman: Strong banking sector helping cos facing external uncertainties
--CONTEXT:Finance Minister Sitharaman speaking at Kautilya Economic Conclave
--Sitharaman: Provided calibrated support while ensuring fisc consolidation
--Sitharaman: Must maintain public finances that support development goals
--Sitharaman: Need to keep building resilience as we go along
--Sitharaman: Uncertainties now part of econ conditions
--Sitharaman: Intl trade policy must prevent unnecessary restrictions
--Sitharaman: National security needs a structural strategy
--Sitharaman: Nations need to work towards keeping markets open
--Sitharaman: Nations need to ensure movement of goods, services
--Sitharaman: Private invest must now lead the cycle
--Sitharaman: Test of coming years will again be invisible
--Sitharaman: International trade policy must provide stability

 

NEW DELHI – India needs to keep building resilience as "uncertainty is now a standing condition" of the global economy and policy must be designed around it, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said Saturday. "We need to keep building resilience as we go along; it is not a one-time exercise," Sitharaman said at the Kautilya Economic Conclave 2026 here. The coming years call for preparation, and India approaches them from strength, Sitharaman said while highlighting a few priorities that stand out. 

 

National security requires structural autonomy in strategic inputs, Sitharaman said while listing the four priorities. Strategic resource security sits at the centre of macroeconomic policy, she said. According to her, supply chains optimised for cost alone carry hidden fragility. To replace fragile single-source dependencies with domestic operational depth, India has launched the National Critical Mineral Mission, the Rare Earth Corridors, and the India Semiconductor Mission 2.0, and focus is on developing the use of small modular reactors, she said.

 

Second priority, according to the finance minister, is to ensure that global economic relationships remain open, predictable, and rules-based. "Nations should engage with one another through dialogue and negotiated agreements, rather than allowing geopolitical differences to become barriers to trade and investment," Sitharaman said. "International Trade policy should provide greater certainty for businesses, respect national development priorities, and avoid unnecessary restrictions that fragment markets." 

 

She said a more resilient global economy will require countries to diversify partnerships, keep markets open, honour commitments, and work together to keep the movement of goods, services, energy and capital as stable and predictable as possible. Equally important, she said, is that the global financial architecture must reflect the economies where growth now lies. The work on strengthening multilateral development banks, taken forward under India's G20 Presidency, should translate into larger, faster and more predictable long-term finance for developing economies, Sitharaman said. 

 

The third priority must be relevant skill development, which must prepare people for a changing world of work. She said that artificial intelligence and frontier technologies are reshaping workplaces, work processes and the competencies that employment demands. "We must equip young people entering the workforce and support those already employed to upgrade their skills, acquire new capabilities, and move into emerging roles," she said.

 

She also said that industry must take a greater role in designing and delivering training, through stronger partnerships with educational institutions, apprenticeships and learning at the workplace. "Training must reflect evolving industry requirements and combine digital and AI competencies with sound professional knowledge and judgement," she said. "Our objective is to enable people across generations to participate in technological progress and translate it into higher productivity, better employment and greater economic opportunity."

 

The fourth priority, according to the finance minister, is that private investment must now lead the economic cycle, including in research and innovation. Sitharaman said India's expenditure on research and development stands at 0.83% of GDP, compared with 2.7% for countries under the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, which has 38 member countries, while the private sector contributes only 36% of India's total research and development expenditure. "Raising both the scale of investment and private sector participation is essential to strengthening our innovation capacity." she said. 

 

Sitharaman said the economic test of the coming years will again be partly invisible: the shocks India absorbs without disruption to households and enterprises. "That record is as much a measure of sound economic management as any growth figure," she said.

 

Referring to Kautilya's economic policy, she said he placed economy and finance at the foundation of every undertaking. In a modern economy, that treasury includes fiscal space, buffer stocks, sound banks and the trust of citizens, and India will keep strengthening each of them, she said. Sitharaman said public finances must be maintained to be able to achieve development goals. 

 

Fiscal prudence gives continuity to our development commitments, she said. "It enables the state to sustain essential services, meet its obligations and respond when circumstances demand," she said. "Kautilya's principle finds its modern expression in this responsibility - maintaining public finances that can support the undertakings of the nation," Sitharaman said.  End

 

Reported by Priyasmita Dutta and Sagar Sen

Edited by Deepshikha Bhardwaj

 

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