FM Sitharaman Courts Global CEOs to Strengthen Investment Ties with India
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman made an open invite to global CEOs, pension fund managers, and institutional investors to be active participants in India's fast-changing growth story in a series of high-level interactions in the United States. The conversations covered key areas like energy, sustainability, artificial intelligence (AI), digital infrastructure, and innovation led by the private sector.
With Finance Secretary Ajay Seth and India's Ambassador to the US Vinay Mohan Kwatra in tow, the Finance Minister met with key industry leaders and stakeholders, presenting India's reformist economic terrain and soliciting comments on prevailing policy regimes.
Sitharaman emphasized the Government of India's intentions to encourage research and innovation through a proposed Rs 1 lakh crore ($12 billion) corpus towards augmenting private sector-led R&D and innovation. She invited foreign investors to look at opportunities under this effort, which is intended to serve as a catalyst for India's aspirations in front-line technologies.
In a series of private meetings with the leading tech executives and venture capitalists, the Finance Minister highlighted India's preparedness to emerge as a world class innovation hub. She specifically highlighted the advancement in AI, cloud computing, and digital connectivity.
Jonathan Siddharth, Turing CEO, indicated his desire to make India a central force in the international AI revolution. He spoke of his vision for building a sovereign AI model created in partnership with Indian talent, one that would create a global benchmark. Sitharaman responded by pointing to India's policy initiatives to facilitate responsible AI innovation and extending an invitation to Turing to partner through India's developing digital ecosystem.
Debanjan Saha, DataRobot's CEO, seconded the view, referring to India as a future AI superpower. He showed interest in contributing to the AI Centre of Excellence, which has been allotted Rs 500 crore in the Union Budget 2025-26. The Finance Minister briefed him on parallel initiatives like the IndiaAI Mission (budgeted at Rs 10,300 crore), and the creation of AI language technologies like BharatGen and Sarvam-1. She also cited the Srijan Centre for Generative AI at IIT Jodhpur as an example of concentrated innovation.
While engaging with Andreessen Horowitz General Partner Anjney Midha and VMware CEO Raghu Raghuram, Sitharaman explained how India's technology revolution has been spearheaded by the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. She urged them to invest in India's rapidly growing innovation areas.
Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian commended the Digital India program, pointing to India's rise as a digital leader on the global stage. Kurian reaffirmed Google Cloud's dedication to sustainability, citing ambitions to run completely on carbon-free energy by 2030. Kurian also indicated Google's enthusiasm for boosting India's connectivity with the world through increased land and sea cable networks.
FM Sitharaman ended the session by thanking for their inputs the participants and also reiterating the government's intention to construct a collaborative as well as investor-friendly ecosystem.
