India will account for a sixth of the global growth in coming years: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today said India is the fastest growing economy and will account for over a sixth of the global growth soon. Sitharaman said India’s startup ecosystem is now the third largest globally and urged the entrepreneurs to take risks and seize the opportunities.

“India is today the fastest-growing major economy in the world. We are projected to contribute nearly 1/6th of the global growth over the coming years,” Sitharaman said while addressing the Special Plenary Session of the YiFi Entrepreneurship Summit 2026 in Madurai.

“We have the largest pool of the youngest workforce anywhere in the world. More than 2.4 lakh DPIIT-recognised startups have together created over 23 lakh direct jobs, while our startup ecosystem is now the 3rd largest globally,” Sitharaman said.

“We have over 2,100 Global Capability Centres (GCCs), which have moved beyond the metro cities. Our digital public infrastructure has become an international benchmark. UPI is processing more than 20 billion transactions every month. New opportunities are coming for ambitious & entrepreneurial Indians. The barriers that once separated talent from opportunity are steadily diminishing. Geography still matters, but the imagination to use available technology matters far more,” she said.

The finance minister said today’s generation is better equipped than ever before to innovate, build and succeed. “With easy access to information, resources, technology and world-class infrastructure, many of the barriers that entrepreneurs faced a few decades ago have been removed,” she said.

“I urge young entrepreneurs to overcome any hesitation in taking risks and seize the opportunities before them. India is the place to innovate and do business, backed by a stable government, policy certainty, a predictable tax regime and a responsive, approachable government,” she added.

Sitharaman said the role of the government has been redefined from being a controller of enterprise to becoming an enabler of enterprise under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“Through formalisation, digitisation, regulatory reforms, GST and investments in infrastructure and connectivity, we have created an ecosystem where businesses can start, grow and compete with confidence. Businesses must come forward to utilise the opportunities emerging across sunrise sectors, leverage technology and innovation,” Sitharaman said.

“I believe the most significant boundaries today are no longer geographical. Technology has made markets accessible from almost anywhere, capital is willing to flow across borders in search of good ideas and knowledge is more widely available than ever before,” she added.