Archive · 22 Sep 2026
Sitharaman Urges India to Shift From Made to Imagined
Nirmala Sitharaman said India should not only make products but also imagine and design them.
She wants more products to be invented and developed in India before being sold around the world.
She said companies should spend more money on research and development.
Businesses could do this themselves or work with universities.
India currently spends a smaller share of its economy on research than the OECD, China and the United States.
Sitharaman also said companies need better governance, transparency and management skills.
She encouraged businesses to work with regulators before disagreements become lawsuits.
She said family businesses should prepare better for succession and professional management.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman urged Indian companies to create products conceived, designed and technologically developed in India.
She called for greater corporate and academic investment in research, development, patents and intellectual property.
India’s gross expenditure on research and development is 0.83% of GDP, compared with 2.7% in the OECD.
Sitharaman said businesses must pair growth in scale with innovation, stronger governance, resilience and global competitiveness.
She also recommended practical management training, better family-business succession planning and products designed beyond affluent urban consumers.
- Who
- Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman addressed Indian industry and management leaders.
- What
- She called for a shift from primarily making products in India to imagining, designing and technologically developing them in India.
- When
- Tuesday.
- Where
- At an event organised by the All India Management Association.
- Why
- To strengthen India’s innovation, intellectual-property creation, institutional capability and global competitiveness as part of its long-term growth ambitions.
- India’s R&D spending
- Gross expenditure on research and development is 0.83% of GDP.
- OECD R&D spending
- The OECD average is 2.7% of GDP.
- China R&D spending
- China’s R&D spending is 2.6% of GDP.
- United States R&D spending
- The United States spends 3.5% of GDP on R&D.
- Private-sector contribution
- India’s domestic private sector accounts for 36% of R&D spending.
- Advanced-economy comparison
- The private sector contributes more than 70% of R&D spending in leading advanced economies.
- Long-term goal
- Sitharaman linked stronger enterprises and institutions to India’s Viksit Bharat 2047 goal.