Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, speaking at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum on Tuesday, told attendees that domestic companies had repaired their balance sheets and directed capital into areas including renewable energy, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, and aviation — developments she described as evidence that private investment was returning to India, adding that she held confidence in the view that private capital had begun to flow in.
Sitharaman noted that homegrown private investment was flowing into the country while capital from abroad was also finding its way in, with businesses directing funds toward both their established fields and areas beyond their usual lines of work.
Describing the stretch following 2013–14 as a period when weak asset oversight and the inability of certain firms to service bank debt placed strain on both corporate and financial-sector balance sheets, she noted that the episode had come to be known informally as a "balance sheet problem." Lending institutions recorded a deterioration in their financial positions. Weaknesses in how assets were managed put pressure on company balance sheets, she indicated.
Regulatory action targeting weaknesses in the banking sector followed, with numerous private-sector firms also working through their own balance-sheet restructuring and reducing outstanding debt. Healthy cash positions have built up across a number of companies, she noted.
Those comments came on the heels of a trip Sitharaman made to Singapore, where she laid out the case for investing in India before an audience of global institutional investors and financial institutions. Five sectors drew her attention as priority destinations for increased investment: infrastructure, semiconductors, artificial intelligence, renewable energy, and financial services.
Addressing the audience, Sitharaman pointed to a concessional corporate tax structure put in place in 2019, explaining that the pandemic and the period of uncertainty that followed had delayed investment decisions, while noting that private-sector capital had since begun moving — with activity now visible across renewable energy, semiconductor manufacturing and design, biosimilars, pharmaceuticals, generic drug production, and aircraft maintenance, repair, and overhaul.
Expansion of the aviation sector drew capital toward maintenance, repair, and overhaul infrastructure across the country. Indian carriers have been placing aircraft orders at pace with a domestic aviation market that has been expanding at roughly 16% annually — a rate that outpaces the broader global industry — with one estimate suggesting the fleet could absorb a new plane approximately every week through to 2030, according to a statement from an official in the sector.
Drawing long-term capital into infrastructure formed another strand of the remarks, with three dedicated vehicles — the National Infrastructure Pipeline, the National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development, and the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund — cited by Sitharaman as part of that effort.
Set up in 2019, the National Infrastructure Pipeline functions as an open-access portal through which both central and state governments list planned infrastructure ventures for potential investors to browse. The pipeline's total value, put at roughly $2 trillion when it first launched, had expanded to beyond $4.5 trillion, according to Sitharaman. A sector filter and a state filter let investors narrow down the available projects.
Two distinct institutions address different ends of the financing spectrum: one extends long-horizon, higher-risk capital to infrastructure ventures through the National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development, while the other — the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund — draws in external money via dedicated investment vehicles aimed at infrastructure and real estate development.
Sitharaman pointed to a ten-year span during which road networks, port facilities, airports, and digital infrastructure had all expanded across the country. Plans to continue that progress and bring infrastructure up to date across multiple sectors were outlined by the administration. Expanding electricity demand from AI systems and data centres was among the factors she highlighted in making the case for stronger energy infrastructure.
Investment flowed into a range of industries across the country, spanning semiconductor fabrication, power transmission infrastructure, renewable energy projects, green hydrogen, and green ammonia production. Sitharaman outlined an approach to semiconductor development that spans both advanced nanoscale chips and the lower-specification components embedded in everyday goods — refrigerators, vehicles, and household devices linked via the Internet of Things — with her statement to that effect noting that pursuing ever-finer chip technology would run alongside continued output of less refined varieties.
Addressing the rupee's trajectory, Sitharaman noted that the currency had lost value over a period stretching from roughly eighteen months to two years. The central bank, she explained, was intervening to smooth out exchange-rate swings rather than anchor the rupee to any fixed level — a distinction she drew explicitly, noting that stability of movement, not a set value, was the actual goal.
Currency pressures were traced largely to forces outside the country's borders, while the domestic economic picture was described as fundamentally stable. Budgetary restraint would be pursued, officials indicated, without reducing allocations for welfare, education, or healthcare.
As budget planning for the 2027–28 fiscal year moves forward, Sitharaman weighed in on ongoing questions surrounding long-term capital gains tax, securities transaction tax, and how various asset classes are treated under the tax framework. Without committing to any specific budget measures, she told reporters that open discussion on the matter was something she welcomed and intended to follow closely.
