Global supply chain reset means more opportunities for investors and stakeholders in India

Opportunities are galore in India for all investors and industry stakeholders with the current reset in the global supply chain, says Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Over the past year since the advent of COVID-19 pandemic, organizations have faced a slew of challenges from material shortages to logistics bottlenecks and volatile swings in demand.

Many businesses are re-examining their supply chains and looking at ways to increase efficiency, productivity and resilience. Addressing the global business leaders and investors at a roundtable organized by FICCI and the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum, on Saturday, Sitharaman said with the current reset in the global supply chain and clear headed and committed leadership in India, there are opportunities galore in India for all investors and industry stakeholders.

“Startups in India have grown tremendously and many are now raising money through capital markets. This year itself, more than 16 of them will qualify as unicorns,” she said. “India has fully leveraged the potential of digitization even during the most challenging times.” The Finance Minister said the role of technology in the financial sector is enabling pushing the frontier of financial inclusion and fintechs are playing a key role in this area.

Ajay Banga, Mastercard Executive Chairman, believes India is on a great pathway and trajectory with its continuing reforms. “I’m particularly impressed by the production linked incentives  that have been put into place. They can make a difference to the way that they can make a big difference to the way that labor intensive industries in India can develop,” he said.

Banga is hopeful that it’s not just one reform but the series of reforms that are continuing can keep guiding India on the trajectory. “I believe that there is a lot of opportunity for India to participate in supply chains and this can be very helpful over the next period of years to bring good jobs into India.” He asserted that he is constructively optimistic about what India is doing.

Also Read: EEPC India to encourage small businesses to join global value chain and production

FedEx Corporation President and Chief Operating Officer Raj Subramaniam said FedEx business in India is growing strong. “We are very bullish on India. The very fact that we have a global air network puts us in a considerable position to be able to help move COVID-19 related material into India when it was needed. We are looking forward; we are very bullish on where potential for India is, the fastest growing large economy and growing trade environment.”

Furthermore, Jane Fraser, Citi CEO, said they are delighted to see the strength of the recovery that’s happening on the ground. “Obviously there’s a lot of concerns around supply chain disruption at the moment, but it’s around the world. We are very positive about the opportunities for the country. We’re seeing a real pickup in cross border flows. India is going to be a beneficiary, not just from supply chain movement around the world and it can be an important destination for many multinationals that will be looking to grow their operations globally.”