‘Made in India’ Must Give Way to ‘Imagined in India’: Nirmala Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India’s next phase of economic growth must be driven by innovation, design and technology development rather than manufacturing alone, addressing the 53rd National Management Convention of the All-India Management Association (AIMA) in New Delhi.

Here are the 5 Key takeaways from the Sitharaman’s address:

1. Move from “Made in India” to “Imagined in India”
Sitharaman said India’s ambition must shift toward products that are conceived and designed domestically, not just assembled here. “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.

2. Manufacturing scale alone won’t drive the next phase of growth
While expanding manufacturing capacity remains important, Sitharaman said India must increasingly capture the value generated through design, engineering, software, patents, technology and specialised know-how, rather than relying on assembly-led growth. “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,” she said.

3. India Inc. needs to spend more on R&D
The minister urged Indian businesses to raise R&D expenditure, either in-house or through collaboration with academia, saying this should translate into more intellectual property being created in and from India, helping drive innovation and improve existing products.

4. Family-run businesses need clearer governance structures
Addressing challenges faced by family-owned enterprises, Sitharaman called for a clearer separation between ownership and management, well-defined responsibilities, succession planning and proactive conflict-resolution mechanisms to help such businesses professionalise and scale.

5. Startups should be built to last, not just multiply
Sitharaman said the real measure of India’s startup ecosystem isn’t the number of unicorns it produces, but how many of them survive long-term. “The real prize is not how many unicorns we create, but how many endure, turning today’s startups into tomorrow’s large corporations,” she said, urging AIMA to expand practical training programmes on governance, succession planning and delegation of authority to help businesses sustain growth across generations.