Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman concluded a four-day programme in Singapore, during which she met with the country's leadership and a range of global investors to pursue broader investment flows, deepen financial connectivity, and advance collaboration on emerging technologies.
The visit ran from 8 to 11 October and included meetings with Singapore's President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. Sitharaman also held separate meetings with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong, as well as Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan.
Those meetings reviewed the status of commitments arising from the fourth India–Singapore Ministerial Roundtable and identified avenues for advancing the two countries' Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Discussions also extended to the India–ASEAN partnership and regional economic relationships more broadly, with Singapore's upcoming role as ASEAN chair in 2027 providing context for those exchanges.
At a meeting with institutional investors and business leaders in Singapore, Sitharaman presented India's economic foundations, growth trajectory, and ongoing policy changes as factors relevant to deepening investment in the Indian market. A curated selection of infrastructure opportunities drawn from the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund pipeline was presented to potential investors, with further dialogue anticipated with the relevant authorities in India.
Sitharaman also attended a luncheon convened by President Tharman and International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva. Delegates from global financial institutions, investment houses, universities, and the Singapore administration gathered to exchange perspectives on economic and financial trends across world markets.
A business roundtable convened by Sitharaman brought together representatives from JPMorgan Chase, BlackRock, Deutsche Bank, PIMCO, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Carlyle, Temasek, Millennium Management, Citadel, and Brevan Howard. Topics covered included India's economic performance during a period of global turbulence, the policy changes shaping that trajectory, developments across financial markets, the broader consequences of accelerating artificial intelligence development, and pathways for drawing international investment into Indian assets.
Participants expressed optimism about India's economic outlook and called for policy settings that balance fiscal discipline with growth-oriented measures, along with continued development of the country's infrastructure.
In a series of individual engagements, Sitharaman held discussions with senior representatives from fifteen institutions and firms, among them Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Wellington Management, Standard Chartered Bank, GIC, DBS Bank, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken, Temasek, TPG, HPS Investment Partners, CapitaLand Investment, Intel, British International Investment, IHH Healthcare, and B Capital.
Investment interest among those institutions and corporations spanned five areas: consumer markets, startups, fintech, deep technology, and healthcare. Discussions covered funding arrangements for infrastructure including artificial intelligence facilities, chip manufacturing, and data centres, as well as renewable energy projects, industrial production, small and medium-sized enterprises, trade finance, financial services, and food supply networks. Aircraft leasing arrangements, the establishment of treasury centres, and access to India's financial markets were also among the topics addressed.
Directing long-term institutional funding toward infrastructure and development projects was a central theme of those discussions. At an investor gathering, Sitharaman highlighted the NIIF and the GIFT International Financial Services Centre as avenues for new investment activity. Attendees indicated plans to maintain and expand their financial commitments to India.
Meetings with Singapore's financial regulators, including the Monetary Authority of Singapore, covered asset tokenisation, digital forms of money, central bank digital currencies, interoperability between financial systems, and frameworks for trusted settlement. Singapore put forward its experience in asset tokenisation as a resource available for potential collaboration between the two countries' financial regulators.
On the commercial side, discussions addressed semiconductor investment under the India Semiconductor Mission, workforce skilling pathways, industry-linked training programmes, and the application of artificial intelligence in banking and financial services. Sectors covered included renewable energy, electric mobility, aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul, food security and processing, sustainable finance, and healthcare infrastructure.
Talks with the Singapore Business Federation focused on arranging company-to-company introductions and facilitating visits by Singaporean trade delegations to India, where they would engage with both private enterprises and state-level administrations. The federation identified semiconductor supply chains, aviation maintenance, food security, and food processing as areas where joint work could be developed.
The visit was structured around generating concrete investment deals and business partnerships, with dedicated channels established for continued engagement across priority and growth-oriented sectors. Sitharaman was accompanied on the trip by the head of NIIF, the chairperson of the International Financial Services Centres Authority, and a number of senior officials from the Department of Economic Affairs.
