ആഗോള പ്രതിസന്ധികൾക്കിടയിലും ഇന്ത്യൻ സമ്പദ്വ്യവസ്ഥ ശക്തമായി തുടരുന്നുവെന്ന് ധനമന്ത്രി നിർമ്മല സീതാരാമൻ വ്യക്തമാക്കി. പണപ്പെരുപ്പം നിയന്ത്രിക്കാനും സാമ്പത്തിക സുസ്ഥിരത ഉറപ്പാക്കാനും സാധിച്ചു. തന്ത്രപ്രധാനമായ വിഭവ സുരക്ഷ, ആഗോള വ്യാപാര സഹകരണം, നൈപുണ്യ വികസനം, സ്വകാര്യ നിക്ഷേപം എന്നിവയിലൂടെ സമ്പദ്വ്യവസ്ഥയെ കൂടുതൽ കരുത്തുറ്റതാക്കാനാണ് സർക്കാർ ലക്ഷ്യമിടുന്നത്.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said India’s fundamentals remained intact amid global turbulence and outlined a four-point strategy to further strengthen the economy’s resilience to emerging challenges.
“The evidence of resilience lies largely in the counterfactual, in the outcomes that did not materialise: an inflation spiral that did not take hold, queues that did not form at fuel outlets, banking stress that did not surface and a fiscal correction that was never forced,” she said, adding that these counterfactuals deserve as much attention from economists as the headline growth rate.
She said India had navigated the shocks of the past four years with its fundamentals intact, citing 7.8 per cent real GDP growth in Q1 FY27, CPI inflation of 4.82 per cent in August 2026, a current account deficit of 0.5 per cent of GDP in Q1 and foreign exchange reserves of about $766 billion.
Strategic resource security
With uncertainty now a standing condition, Sitharaman outlined four key measures to prepare for emerging challenges.
First, national security requires structural autonomy in strategic inputs, she said. “Strategic resource security sits at the centre of macroeconomic policy.” Supply chains optimised for cost alone carry hidden fragility, she added.
“To replace fragile single-source dependencies with domestic operational depth, we have launched the National Critical Mineral Mission, the Rare Earth Corridors, and the India Semiconductor Mission 2.0, and we are focusing on developing the use of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs),” she said.
Second, global economic openness remains important. “Global economic relationships must also remain open, predictable, and rules based. A more resilient global economy will require countries to diversify partnerships, keep markets open, honour commitments, and work together to keep the movement of goods, services, energy and capital as stable and predictable as possible,” Sitharaman said.
Skills, pvt investment
Third, skill development must prepare people for a changing world of work, she said. AI and frontier technologies are reshaping workplaces, work processes and the competencies required for employment.
“We must equip young people entering the workforce and support those already employed to upgrade their skills, acquire new capabilities, and move into emerging roles,” she said.
Fourth, she called for private investment to lead the investment cycle, including in research and innovation. India’s expenditure on R&D stands at 0.83 per cent of GDP, compared with 2.7 per cent for the OECD, while the private sector accounts for only 36 per cent of India’s total R&D expenditure.
Raising both the scale of investment and private-sector participation is essential to strengthening India’s innovation capacity, she said.
“The ₹1 lakh crore (about $11 billion) Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Scheme is designed to support this shift, as India moves from ‘Made in India’ to ‘Imagined and Made in India’,” she said.