New Delhi, September 2026 : India’s next phase of economic growth must extend beyond manufacturing and place greater emphasis on innovation, design, technology and intellectual property creation, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday, calling for a shift from the “Made in India” vision to an “Imagined in India” approach.
Addressing the 53rd National Management Convention of the All India Management Association (AIMA) in New Delhi, Sitharaman said India has the market scale, entrepreneurial energy and institutional capacity required to achieve higher levels of economic growth.
She said manufacturing scale would continue to be important, but the country needed to capture a larger share of the value generated through design, engineering, patents, software, technology and specialised know-how.
“Manufacturing scale is important, but the next stage is to capture more of the value that comes from design, engineering, patent, software, technology, and know-how,” Sitharaman said.
Elaborating on the “Imagined in India” vision, the finance minister said products should not only be manufactured domestically but should also be conceived, designed and technologically developed in the country before being taken to global markets.
“Our ambition must move from made in India to imagined in India. Products not only manufactured here, but conceived, designed, and technologically developed here, and then taken to the markets across the world,” she said.
Sitharaman, however, cautioned that India’s ability to translate its economic strengths into sustained national capabilities would depend on effective execution. While expanding manufacturing capacity remains an important priority, she said businesses and institutions must increasingly focus on building capabilities in areas that generate higher value.
The finance minister also highlighted the challenges faced by family-owned enterprises and stressed the importance of professionalising their management structures.
She called for a clearer distinction between ownership and management, well-defined responsibilities, structured succession planning and mechanisms for resolving conflicts proactively.
Sitharaman also urged AIMA to expand practical training programmes for family-run businesses. Such programmes, she said, should focus on governance, succession planning, delegation of authority and conflict management.
Strengthening these organisational foundations would help family businesses manage transitions more effectively and sustain growth across generations, she said.
The minister also emphasised the importance of building businesses that can endure over the long term rather than focusing solely on rapid expansion or valuation milestones.
“The real prize is not how many unicorns we create, but how many endure, turning today’s startups into tomorrow’s large corporations,” Sitharaman said.
Her remarks underline the government’s emphasis on moving India higher up the global value chain by combining manufacturing capabilities with domestic innovation, technology development, entrepreneurship and stronger business institutions.
