The shift comes as US tariffs on Indian goods prompted vendors to accelerate imports and adjust sourcing strategies. Since 2017, targeted government support through the Make in India program and integration into global value chains via the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme have significantly strengthened India’s electronics manufacturing base.

Exports of “Made in India” smartphones have risen sharply, with shipment volumes to the US growing 240 percent year-on-year. Apple, which has steadily increased its production capacity in India, now dedicates most of its export output to the US market. India’s share of US smartphone imports has surged to 44 percent from just 13 percent a year earlier, while China’s share has dropped from 61 percent to 25 percent over the same period.

In 2024, India exported mobile phones worth $20.5 billion, making it the world’s third-largest exporter after China and Vietnam. The country now operates 300 mobile manufacturing units, compared to only two in 2014. At that time, just 26 percent of phones sold domestically were locally produced; today, that figure has reached 99.2 percent.

Apple has begun assembling Pro models of the iPhone 16 series in India, though it continues to rely on Chinese facilities for larger-scale production. Other manufacturers, including Samsung and Motorola, have also expanded their US-targeted production from India, albeit at a slower pace.

India’s rapid ascent in smartphone manufacturing reflects a deliberate policy push, strong private sector investment, and a global shift toward diversified supply chains. This transformation has positioned the country as a central player in the high-value electronics export market.

Nageswaran noted that last year’s consumption slowdown was primarily due to tight credit and liquidity conditions, prompting the government to introduce substantial middle-class tax cuts in the Union Budget. The Reserve Bank of India also cut policy rates by 100 basis points and ensured a liquidity surplus to stimulate growth.

On the potential impact of U.S. tariffs on India’s GDP growth, he said it was too early to draw conclusions. Instead, he urged policymakers and industry leaders to focus on building strategic capabilities. He identified AI and semiconductor manufacturing as critical areas where India must accelerate efforts to compete with global leaders like the United States and China.

The U.S. currently dominates AI research and chip design through companies such as Nvidia, Intel, and AMD, while China has scaled up chip manufacturing under state-backed initiatives. To bolster domestic capabilities, the Indian government has launched the Semicon India initiative, with the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs recently approving ₹4,600 crore for four semiconductor projects in Odisha, Punjab, and Andhra Pradesh.

Highlighting emerging shifts in consumer behaviour, Nageswaran pointed to a sharp rise in online gaming and options trading. In July alone, monthly spending on online gaming reached about ₹10,000 crore, implying an annualised run rate of ₹1.2 lakh crore. Drawing a parallel with speculative trading in derivatives, he remarked that such scenarios typically favour the platform operators rather than the participants.

He also observed that urban consumption is increasingly moving from listed to unlisted companies, leading to gaps in data capture for services consumption. To address these challenges, Nageswaran called for stronger public-private collaboration, long-term investment commitments, and a focus on national strategic objectives over short-term gains.

Originally established as back-office support arms for global enterprises, GCCs in India have rapidly transformed into high-value innovation and research centres. Today, they are spearheading technological advancements and R&D functions for some of the world’s leading corporations.

The report highlights the role of GCCs in driving India’s service exports and offering high-quality, skill-intensive employment opportunities. In the financial year 2023-24 alone, GCCs contributed approximately $64.6 billion in export revenue—a sharp 40 per cent increase from $46 billion in the previous fiscal year.

The ecosystem around GCCs is being fuelled by a range of favourable factors, including India’s large, skilled, and tech-savvy workforce, the rapid growth of Tier-II cities, improved infrastructure, and supportive government policies. Together, these elements are positioning India not just as a back-office provider but as the world’s “front office” for strategic innovation and operations.

Md Sajid Khan, Director–India at ACCA, emphasized India’s ideal positioning for global firms: “India is the ideal environment for GCCs thanks to our young, educated workforce, politically stable business environment and digital transformation capabilities.”

According to the ACCA report, over 20,000 global leadership roles are expected to be based in India by 2030. This shift signifies a major upgrade in the complexity and strategic importance of roles being handled from India.

Finance professionals stand to benefit significantly from this evolution. Demand is growing for individuals who possess not only core financial knowledge but also expertise in data analytics, digital tools, and commercial thinking. Finance roles in GCCs are rapidly moving beyond traditional accounting to functions focused on value creation, such as process optimization and cost transformation.

Opportunities for finance professionals include areas such as financial planning and analysis, business partnering, compliance, reporting, and procurement. Entry-level roles are increasingly centred around data analytics and reporting, while mid-level professionals are driving transformation projects and strategic improvements.

As GCCs continue to mature and evolve, their influence on India’s job landscape and GDP will grow substantially—signalling a deep integration of Indian talent and infrastructure into the global economic framework.

India’s shift toward a cashless economy continued to gain pace, with digital payments registering a 10.7% year-on-year growth as of March 2025. The Reserve Bank of India’s Digital Payments Index (DPI) recorded a strong increase, underscoring the rising adoption of platforms like UPI, internet banking, and point-of-sale (POS) systems.

According to the latest data, the DPI rose to 493.22 in March 2025 from 465.33 in September 2024. This steady growth follows a 13.3% jump recorded during the previous financial year, confirming that digital payment penetration remains on an upward trajectory across both urban and rural India.

The Digital Payments Index, released twice a year, measures the expansion and depth of digital transactions based on five weighted parameters: payment enablers (25%), payment infrastructure on the demand side (10%), infrastructure on the supply side (15%), payment performance (45%), and consumer centricity (5%). The index is benchmarked to March 2018, which has a base score of 100.

The growth in DPI reflects both infrastructural improvements and rising user engagement. The supply-side components—such as QR codes, POS terminals, ATMs, and digital-service-enabled bank branches—have expanded significantly. On the performance side, the volume and value of transactions across platforms like Unified Payments Interface (UPI), NEFT, RTGS, IMPS, and internet banking have surged.

India’s flagship payment system, UPI, continues to dominate. In June alone, UPI processed 18.39 billion transactions worth over ₹24.03 lakh crore. The platform now powers more than 85% of all digital transactions in the country and accounts for nearly half of all real-time digital payments globally, making India a global leader in fast payments.

The sustained rise in DPI indicates that the adoption of digital payments is not just a pandemic-driven shift but a structural transformation of the financial landscape. With increased smartphone penetration, simplified onboarding processes, and a growing digital-native population, digital payments are expected to become the default mode for financial transactions in the years ahead.

The momentum suggests that India is steadily building a resilient, inclusive, and innovation-led digital payment ecosystem—one that can serve as a model for other emerging economies seeking to digitize their financial systems.

The report, titled Gati Se Pragati, marks a major milestone in India’s drive toward reducing logistical inefficiencies that have historically hampered competitiveness and economic growth. Although India’s logistics costs remain higher than the global benchmark of 6–8 per cent, the findings signal strong progress and the potential for the country to reach world-class standards in the near future.

India also moved up from 44th to 38th in the World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index in 2023, highlighting improvements in infrastructure, logistics services, and shipment timelines.

The PM Gati Shakti plan integrates seven infrastructure engines—roads, railways, airports, ports, waterways, mass transit, and logistics infrastructure—into a coordinated development framework. The plan’s ambitious targets include expanding the national highway network to 200,000 km, enhancing railway freight capacity to 1,600 million tonnes, and establishing up to 220 new airports.

However, the report cautioned that despite early success and a solid institutional structure, several implementation challenges persist. These include funding gaps, complex regulatory procedures, land acquisition hurdles, and lack of coordination between central and state authorities.

To overcome these bottlenecks, the study recommends targeted interventions such as deploying real-time project monitoring systems, creating innovative infrastructure financing models, boosting private sector involvement, and increasing capacity building within implementing agencies.

The economic analysis shows that infrastructure investments yield a high multiplier effect, generating between ₹2.5 and ₹4 of economic output for every ₹1 invested, with the greatest impact seen in road and rail sectors.

Socio-economic benefits also extend to employment generation, environmental sustainability, regional equity, and improved quality of life. Inland waterways, while still underutilised, represent an area with significant untapped potential.

The report concludes that sustained political will, continued funding, and adaptive management of coordination mechanisms are crucial to the long-term success of the Gati Shakti programme.

He said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India has strategically ensured that a large portion of its oil imports no longer pass through the Strait of Hormuz, a key maritime route near Iran. This chokepoint sees the daily movement of more than 20 million barrels of oil from major producers such as Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, and the UAE. Iran has threatened to block this route if the United States intervenes in its conflict with Israel, raising global concerns over oil supply disruptions and price volatility.

The minister explained that Indian oil marketing companies including Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum, and Hindustan Petroleum have sufficient crude oil reserves for several weeks and continue to receive supplies from multiple international routes. He reaffirmed the government’s commitment to taking all necessary measures to ensure stable fuel availability for Indian consumers.

India imports about 85 percent of its crude oil needs. Any spike in global oil prices not only increases the national oil import bill but also contributes to domestic inflation and currency depreciation. However, India has taken proactive steps to mitigate such risks. The country has significantly boosted crude imports from non-Middle Eastern sources like Russia and the United States and has developed strong energy resilience through the establishment of strategic petroleum reserves.

India currently operates 23 modern refineries with a total capacity of 257 million metric tonnes per annum. These facilities play a key role in maintaining the domestic supply of petroleum products. The government has also built strategic crude oil storage facilities across key coastal locations. The Pudur reserve holds 2.25 million metric tonnes (MMT) of crude oil, Visakhapatnam has 1.33 MMT, and Mangalore holds 1.5 MMT. An additional reserve is under construction in Chandikhol to further strengthen India’s energy preparedness.

Minister Puri emphasized that these strategic reserves not only help ensure energy security during emergencies but also provide flexibility to cushion the impact of global price surges. He reiterated that India is fully prepared to face any future disruptions and that fuel availability for the public will remain uninterrupted.

India is rapidly transforming into a global technology and industrial powerhouse, making significant progress across sectors such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), semiconductor manufacturing, real estate, utilities, and aerospace. A series of recent developments highlights India’s emergence as a future-ready destination for innovation, investment, and sustainable growth.

India emerges as a prime hub for AI infrastructure and chip manufacturing.

According to Moody’s Analytics’ report, AI Is Beating the Odds, India is becoming a preferred destination for data centers and semiconductor manufacturing, joining Singapore and Malaysia as key beneficiaries of the surge in AI investments. While cross-border investments are slowing globally due to rising trade tensions, capital expenditure on AI infrastructure is rising sharply to meet growing demand.

India’s strengths lie in its cost-effectiveness, abundant tech talent, and robust digital policy ecosystem. These advantages are drawing investments from major U.S.-based tech companies looking for scalable and stable environments for AI development. India’s proactive stance on infrastructure and skilled workforce has positioned it at the forefront of AI-led global expansion, transforming it into a strategic hub for future innovation.

IT/ITeS Flexi Workforce Expected to Reach 900,000 by 2030

India’s information technology and IT-enabled services (IT/ITeS) sector is rapidly adopting flexible workforce models. A report by Careernet, The Rise of Flexi Staffing, forecasts that the number of flexible (gig) workers in the sector will more than double from 390,000 to 900,000 by 2030. The sector currently employs 5.8 million professionals, with flexi workers now making up 7% of that total.

India’s booming gig economy is growing at a compound annual rate of 15%, driven by demands for agility, specialization, and scalability. Bengaluru leads the trend, contributing 25% of flexi hires, followed by Hyderabad (15%), and cities like Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Pune, and Chennai, each contributing about 10%. Interestingly, Tier II and III cities now account for 20% of this flexible talent pool—an indicator of decentralization in hiring and the growing availability of local talent at lower overhead costs.

For the younger workforce, particularly millennials and Gen Z, flexible roles offer career exploration, continuous skill development, and improved work-life balance. For businesses, this model reduces infrastructure costs and increases responsiveness to shifting global market conditions.

India’s Real Estate Sector Closes FY25 with $6.99 Billion in transactions.

India’s real estate market showed strong resilience in FY25, recording 99 deals worth approximately $6.99 billion, according to Grant Thornton Bharat. Private equity played a dominant role, accounting for $3.15 billion across 48 transactions, while public market instruments like IPOs and QIPs raised $2.99 billion.

Merger and acquisition activity also rose, with 36 deals worth about $619 million, largely focused on mid-sized and platform-based acquisitions. Grade A commercial, warehousing, and retail assets drew significant institutional interest, buoyed by post-pandemic recovery in office leasing and high consumer demand in urban centers.

Residential sales grew 77% between FY19 and FY25, with primary sales now accounting for 57% of the total market. Although affordable housing sales dropped by 9% in Q1 FY25, unsold inventory fell by 19%, indicating strong market absorption and a shift toward premium properties. Demand from global capability centers, IT/ITeS, and e-commerce firms fueled a sharp rebound in leasing, especially in Tier I and emerging Tier II cities.

Developers and investors are increasingly prioritizing ESG-compliant assets and incorporating advanced technologies like AI, blockchain, and IoT into planning and leasing. These factors point toward sustainable, tech-driven real estate growth in FY26.

The technology spending in the utility sector is projected to nearly triple, reaching $3.76 billion by 2027.

India’s utilities sector is on a digital transformation path, with technology investments expected to grow from $1.68 billion in 2022 to $3.76 billion by 2027, according to a white paper by the Independent Directors Council (IDC) supported by Airtel Business.

A key catalyst is the government’s Smart Meter National Program, which aims to replace 250 million traditional meters with smart meters to reduce aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses—currently 15.4%, nearly double the global average. As of February 2025, only about 9% of the sanctioned meters had been installed.

Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) is emerging as the preferred connectivity method for these meters due to its low-power, wide-area capabilities. Cellular IoT connections in the utilities segment are projected to grow at a CAGR of 25.6% through 2027.

Airtel has deployed 1.7 million NB-IoT meters in Bihar and has connected over 20 million IoT devices across India. Airtel’s platforms provide comprehensive smart meter management, ranging from feasibility testing to data visualization, thereby fostering the development of smarter energy infrastructure.

India will assemble Dassault Falcon 2000 jets by 2028.

In a landmark partnership unveiled at the Paris Air Show, Reliance Aerostructure Limited (RAL) and French aerospace firm Dassault Aviation announced that Falcon 2000 business jets will be assembled in India by 2028. This marks the first time in Dassault’s 106-year history that production of this aircraft will occur outside France.

The Dassault Reliance Aerospace Ltd. (DRAL) joint venture will set up a state-of-the-art assembly line at the Multi-modal International Cargo Hub (MIHAN) in Nagpur. The facility will also serve as a global Center of Excellence (CoE) for future Falcon models like the 6X and 8X.

This collaboration supports Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Atmanirbhar Bharat and Make in India for the World visions. Dassault’s CEO, Eric Trappier, emphasized the shift of assembly operations to India, and DRAL has already delivered over 100 major sub-assemblies. The partnership is expected to generate hundreds of skilled jobs and foster a robust aerospace supply ecosystem.

From data centers and AI infrastructure to flexi workforce trends, real estate innovation, smart utilities, and aerospace manufacturing, India is undergoing a major transformation. These developments not only reflect economic momentum but also validate India’s evolution into a global hub for next-generation industries. With a supportive policy environment and a deep talent pool, India is emerging as a formidable force in shaping the world’s technological and industrial future.

India’s Engineering Exports Up 60% Since 2014, Reflecting ‘Make in India’ Success: Piyush Goyal

“India on the rise! Since 2014, under the Narendra Modi government, engineering goods’ exports have surged by 60 per cent, reflecting robust ‘Make in India’ success,” Goyal posted on social media platform X.

This growth mirrors India’s broader industrial recovery and export performance. As per recent data from the Ministry of Statistics, industrial production grew by 2.7% year-on-year in April 2025, signaling consistent progress in key sectors.

Manufacturing Momentum and Sectoral Gains
The manufacturing sector, which plays a central role in India’s economic expansion, recorded a 3.4% rise in April, improving from 3% growth in March. Among the top-performing segments were:

Basic metals

Motor vehicles

Machinery and equipment, which saw a 17% growth, driven by strong domestic and international demand

A notable 20.3% rise in capital goods output—tools and equipment used in infrastructure and industrial projects—suggests growing investment sentiment and future job creation potential.

At the same time, consumer confidence remains resilient. The output of durable goods, including electronics and appliances, rose 6.4%, indicating healthy consumption trends.

Infrastructure Push Driving Industrial Growth
India’s infrastructure development efforts continue to boost industrial sectors. The infrastructure and construction goods segment grew by 4% in April, supported by substantial public investment in highways, railways, ports, and logistics.

This aligns with the government’s strategy to modernize infrastructure while enhancing manufacturing competitiveness and export capability.

With the global demand for high-quality engineering products on the rise, India’s consistent improvement in industrial output and export performance positions the country strongly for future economic gains.

India’s GDP grew by 7.4% in Q4 FY25, marking the strongest quarterly growth in the past year. This expansion reflects rising momentum across industries and highlights the resilience of the Indian economy amid global uncertainties.

Inflation has remained below 4% for four consecutive months, offering relief to consumers and strengthening the purchasing power in the economy. At the same time, GST collections have shown consistent growth, indicating robust demand and economic activity within the formal sector.

The report further points out that fiscal, monetary, and regulatory policies are now aligned to promote sustained growth. The new tax exemption limits effective from April 2025 are likely to enhance disposable incomes, supporting a rise in consumer spending.

Meanwhile, the government continues to invest heavily in infrastructure, with increased capital expenditure acting as a key driver in reviving the investment cycle.

Global Trends Mixed, But Favorable for India

On the global front, April and May were marked by fears over tariffs and rising geopolitical tensions. However, a delay in tariff implementation and a ceasefire between India and Pakistan improved global sentiment.

This helped lift global equity markets, with the MSCI World Index hitting record highs. Rising bond yields in Japan, and China’s increased demand for gold, reflect a shift away from US Treasuries among global investors.

With the U.S. facing a $9 trillion debt refinancing challenge, these trends could create concerns. However, a weaker Dollar Index could work in India’s favor by drawing increased foreign investments into emerging markets.

Equity Market Caution Amid Valuation Concerns

India’s stock market has seen a sharp increase in valuations, although corporate earnings haven’t kept pace. The Nifty-50’s one-year forward valuation now exceeds its long-term average, and mid- and small-cap stocks continue to trade at a premium.

This valuation expansion has made careful stock selection and active portfolio management crucial for investors aiming to generate strong returns, according to the report.

Overall, the report paints an optimistic picture of India’s economic trajectory, underpinned by strong fundamentals, coordinated policy support, and a favorable global shift towards emerging economies.