Dr Koopman calls on India to develop its capital markets
The future growth trajectory of India’s economy depends on how inclusively micro enterprises are enabled to adopt, adapt, scale, and integrate into domestic and global value chains, says Dr V. Anantha Nageswaran, Chief Economic Advisor to the Government at the session on “Powering the Future: India’s Micro Enterprises” during the CII Annual Business Summit 2026 held on 12 May in New Delhi.
Speaking at the session Dr Nageswaran said that while “Artificial Intelligence (AI) and automation are transforming the workforce”, human judgment remains indispensable in decision-making, creativity, and adaptability. Micro enterprises, often led by skilled individuals, serve as vital sources of human capital for large firms.
Their agility, hands-on expertise, and entrepreneurial mindset can complement corporate structures. By investing in skills and fostering partnerships with micro enterprises, large organizations can enhance innovation and resilience.
He further maintained that investing in trade skills is crucial for micro enterprises to integrate into global value chains (GVCs). With ITIs undergoing revitalization, micro enterprises can collectively pool resources and adopt these institutions to scale operations, enhance capabilities, and improve competitiveness. This collaborative approach not only leverages upgraded training infrastructure but also fosters innovation and resilience, enabling small players to access larger markets.
Secondly, skill development, combined with streamlined regulations in a simple, transparent and trust-based environment, positions micro enterprises to thrive amid global shifts like deglobalization and supply chain disruptions. Smart regulation, which envisions a conducive regulatory architecture, would provide the requisite bandwidth to micro enterprises to prosper. The government’s focus on deregulation should be viewed in this context.
He further highlighted the importance of timely payments and healthier commercial practices by large industries, noting that delayed receivables often constrain working capital cycles for smaller businesses. Ensuring timely payments to MSMEs across supply chains, he said, would not only improve liquidity but would also facilitate their integration in the global value chain.
R. Dinesh, past president, CII spoke about the laudable work done by the CII Centre of Excellence on Livelihoods and Employment which, launched in 2024, created 10,000 new startups every year across 13 states and 40 districts. Many micro entrepreneurs also shared their experiences during the session while large scale enterprises spoke of the complementary mutually beneficial relationship where the large sector benefits through outsourcing their operations to the small and micro sector.
Later in the day, addressing the session on “Fractured Global Economy, Shifting Faultlines: Geopolitics, Geoeconomics and the Emerging Economy Imperative,” Dr Anantha Nageswaran, “articulated the view that the global economy is experiencing a profound shift driven by four structural changes: “geo-economic fragmentation”, technology bifurcation, “the energy transition premium, and the “permanent repricing of geopolitical risk”.
The West Asia crisis has significantly aggravated these divisions, acting as a “live balance-of-payments stress test” for India rather than a temporary shock, straining India’s balance of payments, he said.
For India, the West Asia crisis has been considerably disruptive considering that 87% of the country’s crude oil is imported, nearly 60% of LPG imports come from the Gulf region, while 38% of India’s yearly remittances are received from Gulf countries. He suggested astrategic rethinking of fiscal consolidation and infrastructure investment amidst shifting global dynamics.
The CEA also maintained that advanced economies may not necessarily facilitate India’s rise without resistance. Hence India’s strategic ascent hinges on long-term structural reforms, technological self-reliance, and resilient supply chains — areas that cannot be deferred. India’s response has been to diversify its footprint in multiple geographies as exemplified by the nine recent trade agreements which signal proactive engagement. These agreements should be implemented on the ground and regulatory challenges should be narrowed, based on shared interest.
Sustained progress requires that India should press ahead on reforms including fiscal consolidation, infrastructure investment and continuation of existing reforms, he said.
Satya Ramamurty, Chair Public Sector, Structured Finance Department Asia-Pacific, SMBC (Japan) spoke at length on the strong relationship between India and Japan and informed that Japan has long term strategic interests in the country. India is among the four focus markets in the financial ecosystem of Japan.He said that the bank is participating in buildingstrategic resilience and domestic capability, sustainable finance, developing local talent andbuilding social value.
Tom Orlik, Chief Economist, Bloomberg, spoke about China’s ascent in the eighties and how does it compare with India’s growth trajectory. He said that in an uncertain external environment, India should address the challenges through a focus on domestic market, diversification of trade and markets e.g. FTAs, de-bottle chokepoints e.g. build strategic petroleum reserves, build buffers such as on crucial minerals, data centres etc to be secure.
Dr Robert Koopman, Hurst Distinguished Professorial Lecturer, School of International Service, American University, Former Chief Economist of WTO and USITC – (United States) stated that India should develop its capital markets, focus on education and healthcare, diversify trade partnerships and develop electronics and digital services capabilities to reduce dependence on China.
Shekhar Gupta, Founder, The Print, mentioned that there is no such thing as strategic absolute autonomy and every country, including India should adjust with partners and allies. It is more about deciding what is good about the country at the particular moment.
A K Bhattacharya, Editorial Director and Former Editor, Business Standard, said that the triad of trade, investment and technology needs to be explored more seriously rather than assuming that domestic investment would happen automatically. Indian industry is investing more abroad which needs to be assessed. He alluded to seven key areas of reform for India to adopt namely factor markets especially land, expedite agriculture reforms, judicial reforms, deregulation and civil service reforms, education and skilling, healthcare, environment and sustainability and an open debate on which policy would work. Fiinews.com
