Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman urges greater investment in manufacturing at CII Annual Summit

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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has advocated for a greater emphasis on the manufacturing sector during her speech at the CII Annual Business Summit 2024 held in Delhi on Friday. Sitharaman highlighted the importance of manufacturing alongside services and underscored the need for increased investment and governmental backing to strengthen this sector. “Manufacturing must increase, India must also increase manufacturing with the help of policies, its share in manufacturing in global value chains.

So we need to have greater sophistication in our product manufacturing, and we also need to see how this can be given the best policy support," said the Union Minister, as quoted by ANI. During the event, Sitharaman highlighted an IMF report that predicted that India's contribution to global growth would be 18 percent over the next five years, starting in 2023. She said that the period from 2023 to 2028 would be dynamic for India's growth.

“IMF estimated that India's contribution to the global growth for five years, beginning 2023, will be 18 percent. So between 2023 and 2028, we are looking at an India which will be dynamic, contributing to 18 per cent to the global growth," said the minister. Sitharaman also cited the S&P Global Market Intelligence outlook, which projects significant growth in India's consumer market.

“The Indian consumer market is likely to double by 2031, there is a 2.9 trillion-dollar opportunity in that. The report also suggests that consumer spending on food in India is estimated to rise to 1.4 trillion US dollars; again, a one trillion-dollar opportunity lies in waiting," the minister added. Furthermore, she highlighted opportunities in India's financial market, quoting the S&P report.