Addressing a high-level Business Roundtable with leading investors and business leaders in Chicago on Friday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman invited global investors to set up manufacturing bases, technology and innovation centres in India. Speaking at the roundtable organised by India's Consulate General in Chicago in association with US-India Strategic Partnership Forum, 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 urged global partners to co-develop, co-produce and build for global markets, emphasizing that "The policy environment is increasingly focused on enabling businesses to invest, manufacture, innovate and expand." The 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.
Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has positioned India as a global platform for production, innovation, services and exports during her Toronto visit. Speaking at a high-level business roundtable, Sitharaman emphasized that "For Canadian investors, India offers a combination that is difficult to match — scale, sustained growth, a young population expanding consumption and rapidly deepening capital markets." She noted that "India's transformation is structural. For Canadian institutional investors, this creates opportunities to participate in India's growth but also use India as a platform for wider regional and global financial activity." The Finance Minister is in Canada to pitch India as an attractive investment destination and further strengthen bilateral economic ties. In Chicago, she highlighted India's broad-based growth, reform momentum and expanding opportunities for long-term investment, stating that "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."
Sitharaman highlighted India's Digital Public Infrastructure such as Aadhaar, UPI, DigiLocker, ONDC and India Stack, has created platforms at population scale. She said "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." The minister noted that GIFT City was emerging as an international financial centre connecting global capital with Indian opportunities, 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. Sitharaman said "The focus is moving beyond assembly towards deeper component manufacturing, engineering and advanced technologies, supported by targeted policy measures including production-linked incentives."
In Toronto, Sitharaman will participate in the inaugural Economic and Financial Dialogue with Canada's Minister of Finance and National Revenue, François-Philippe Champagne. The dialogue will provide a platform for both sides to exchange views on macroeconomic developments, financial sector cooperation, bilateral investment opportunities and shared international priorities. The talks come as India and Canada seek to strengthen their economic relationship, with recent discussions focusing on energy, critical minerals, technology, innovation and resilient supply chains, as well as ongoing negotiations for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). During a joint press conference with her Canadian counterpart, Sitharaman discussed practical avenues for cooperation in the financial sector, including cross border payments, financial stability, fintech and capital markets. She also explored opportunities for wider international and multilateral cooperation on issues of interest, such as critical minerals and energy security.
During her Toronto visit, Sitharaman has met Canadian corporate leaders and investors, pitching co-operation and India as an investment destination in sectors ranging from infrastructure, renewable energy and financial services to critical minerals and artificial intelligence. During her three-day visit to Toronto, she will participate in an Investment Roundtable with senior representatives from the energy, artificial intelligence and critical minerals sectors, aimed at identifying investment opportunities and promoting business-to-business linkages, including opportunities in GIFT City-IFSC. At a separate Business Roundtable, she will engage with Canadian business leaders on bilateral cooperation, long-term investment and growth opportunities in the financial sector. Senior managing directors and CEOs of Indian public sector banks will also participate in these discussions. She will also hold one-to-one meetings with CEOs and senior executives of Canadian companies to discuss India's investment opportunities, growth prospects and avenues for expanding Canadian business presence in India. Victor Thomas, president and CEO of the Canada-India Business Council, told Business Standard that Sitharaman's visit "builds real momentum in the relationship, lays the groundwork for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, and paves the way for a bilateral visit by Prime Minister Modi to Canada later this year."
Addressing the Economic and Financial Dialogue, Sitharaman announced that India and Canada aim to complete a foreign investment protection agreement (FIPA) by the end of this year. This development comes as India's NITI Aayog has estimated the country will need up to $6 trillion of foreign investment in the coming decades to meet its development and net-zero goals. During Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's visit to India in March, the two countries had pledged to finalise the free trade agreement, or the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, by the end of 2026. Speaking to business leaders in Toronto, Sitharaman noted that Canadian pension funds have invested over $100 billion across various sectors in India, and asserted that "India is probably the only country which is providing political and policy stability" for investors at this time. Positioning India as a reliable business partner, she said: "We don't want to become captive to somebody's weaponizing their investments or weaponizing the economy. India has never had that kind of an approach to business."
In Asheville, North Carolina, Sitharaman will lead the Indian delegation at the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) Meeting under the United States G20 Presidency on August 31 and September 1. The meeting will bring together finance ministers, central bank governors and senior economic officials from G20 members to deliberate on key global economic and financial issues. During the US visit, she will also participate in a roundtable conference with investors and senior private-sector leaders in Chicago, where discussions will focus on India's investment opportunities, economic outlook and strengthening business and investment partnerships between India and the US. India's participation in the G20 Finance Track will provide an opportunity to advance its positions on global economic challenges and strengthen cooperation with G20 partners. Sitharaman is on a six-day visit to the US and is scheduled to attend the G-20 Finance Ministers' meeting and visit New York, where she will participate in an Investor Roundtable with CEOs and senior representatives of leading companies and hold one-to-one meetings with financial-sector executives.
