Rounds of meetings with senior executives in Singapore gave Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman the platform to call on global financial institutions and investment firms to look at what India offers across infrastructure, capital markets, renewable energy, and artificial intelligence, among other areas.
A Finance Ministry post on X noted that talks with Yukinobu Saeki, who leads MUFG's Asia Pacific operations as Chief Executive, centred on broadening the Japanese financial group's footprint in India across capital markets, infrastructure and project finance, renewable energy, and M&A financing, with Sitharaman also urging the bank to strengthen its ties with the National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development — known as NaBFID — as a channel for advancing infrastructure investment.
Among the agenda items were funding pathways for small and medium-sized businesses, along with outreach sessions aimed at drawing in investors, lifting disclosure standards, and reinforcing oversight frameworks, according to a broadcast news outlet.
At a separate engagement with Rajeev Kannan — who holds the roles of Managing Executive Officer and Co-Head for Asia Pacific at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) — the Finance Minister put forward areas of potential collaboration spanning affordable housing finance, non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), trade finance, and a range of other priority sectors. Potential avenues through the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund and the GIFT International Financial Services Centre — aircraft leasing standing out as a focal area — were put forward for SMBC to consider pursuing on both the investment and financing fronts.
Talks between Sitharaman and Marcus Wallenberg — who chairs Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (SEB) — covered the trajectory of India's economy alongside avenues for deepening investment flows and broadening engagement with institutional investors across Europe. Four topic areas shaped the agenda — private equity flows into non-banking financial companies, pathways toward sustainable finance, the broader shift to a greener economy, and workforce skills development. Alongside that, an invitation was extended to SEB to look into potential avenues through both GIFT IFSC and NIIF.
Topics covered in that session with HPS Investment Partners chief executive Scott Kapnick ranged from private credit and structured finance to longer-term funding arrangements for companies. Debt capital, the firm argued, holds the capacity to work alongside equity investments rather than replace them. Raising the prospect of a dedicated fund within GIFT IFSC, the Finance Minister also pointed to a partnership with NIIF as a pathway for drawing together capital behind large-scale infrastructure development.
A separate engagement brought Sitharaman together with Raj Ganguly — B Capital Group's co-founder and chief executive — for a conversation spanning sovereign AI and the wider artificial-intelligence landscape. Drawing attention to the opportunities that artificial intelligence presents for India, she urged B Capital to look into how AI tools could be put to work within the country's banking and financial services industries. Currency stability and a tax environment that investors can count on for consistency and transparency were among the priorities raised by the B Capital team.
Drawn toward overseas investment and closer ties with multilateral financial bodies, the government has structured these sessions around four broad areas: infrastructure development, financial services, new and emerging technologies, and sustainability-focused growth.
