Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: The Government has signalled that a fresh wave of economic reforms is on the horizon, and it wants Indian industry to be prepared not merely to participate in them, but to drive them. Delivering what was effectively a strategic economic doctrine for the next phase of India’s growth story, Principal Secretary-2 to the Prime Minister Shaktikanta Das used his address at the CII Annual Business Summit to send a blunt message to India Inc: The world has changed fundamentally, the old business models are no longer sufficient, and the era of cautious incrementalism is over.
“There is no reform complacency,” Das declared, making it clear that New Delhi is preparing for deeper structural changes even as the global economy faces an unusually volatile phase marked by tariff wars, geopolitical fragmentation, supply chain disruptions and the rapid rise of artificial intelligence.
India, he argued, now has a rare opportunity to emerge as a trusted global economic hub, but only if its companies become more resilient, technologically advanced and globally competitive.
The speech gains importance because it revealed the thinking that is increasingly shaping policymaking at the highest levels of Government. The central argument was that the global economic order is undergoing a historic reset.
Countries dominating the next phase of the global economy will be those leading in technology, intellectual property and innovation. It was therefore imperative for Indian firms to dramatically expand investment in product development, research and original technological capabilities.
For decades, companies focused overwhelmingly on cost minimisation, just-in-time production and dependence on a few efficient supply chains. But the pandemic, wars in Europe and West Asia, geopolitical tensions and disruptions in global shipping have exposed the vulnerabilities of that model. According to Das, the future belongs to businesses that maximise resilience rather than simply minimise costs.
This broader strategic shift formed the basis of the seven-point roadmap he laid out for corporate India.
The first priority, Das said, is organisational resilience and stronger risk management. Businesses can no longer operate on the assumption that markets will remain predictable or stable. Geopolitical shocks, cyber threats, commodity volatility and technological disruptions are becoming permanent features of the global economy.
Companies therefore need systems that can anticipate risks, absorb shocks and adapt rapidly. The ability to respond quickly to disruption, he suggested, will become a defining competitive advantage in the years ahead.
Das argued that uncertainty punishes financially weak firms far more severely than strong ones. Indian companies, he said, must focus on prudent borrowing, liquidity buffers and disciplined capital allocation. In an uncertain world, financial strength becomes strategic strength.
A major component of the roadmap focused on supply chain diversification. Das sharply criticised what he described as the old “corner solution” approach in which companies became excessively dependent on one supplier, one geography or one logistical route. Indian firms, he said, must diversify sourcing networks, reduce dependence on specific regions and localise critical inputs wherever feasible.
This aligns closely with the Government’s broader push for strategic self-reliance in sectors such as semiconductors, electronics, defence manufacturing, rare earths and critical minerals.
Another important area highlighted by Das was workforce transformation. Artificial intelligence, automation and digital technologies are changing industries at extraordinary speed, and businesses that fail to adapt their workforce will quickly become uncompetitive. He called for sustained investment in reskilling and upskilling employees through technical training, digital education and industry-academia partnerships.
Das also urged Indian companies to diversify export markets instead of relying excessively on a few regions. As trade increasingly becomes intertwined with geopolitics, businesses will need broader international exposure to remain stable.
India’s growing diplomatic and economic presence across Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America, he said, provides a major opportunity for Indian firms to expand into emerging markets.
Technology and innovation formed another central pillar of the roadmap. Das warned that companies treating digital transformation as a temporary adjustment rather than a long-term strategy risk falling behind. Businesses that invest early in advanced manufacturing, automation, clean technologies and AI-driven operations will gain major productivity and competitiveness advantages.
India’s ambition to become a global manufacturing and technology hub, he suggested, cannot be achieved without aggressive private sector investment in innovation ecosystems.
Perhaps the sharpest message in the speech related to research and development. Das criticised the tendency among Indian corporates to treat R&D expenditure as a burden rather than an investment in future capability.
He argued that countries dominating the next phase of the global economy will be those leading in technology, intellectual property and innovation. Indian firms therefore need to dramatically expand investment in product development, research and original technological capabilities if they want to compete globally.
Das’s address was therefore far more than a routine industry interaction. It was effectively a call for corporate India to prepare for the next generation of reforms by fundamentally rethinking the way it operates.
The message from the Government was unmistakable: India sees enormous opportunity emerging from global uncertainty, but only businesses willing to invest, innovate and adapt boldly will be able to seize it.