Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday, 22 September called on Indian businesses to move beyond the 'Made in India' paradigm and adopt an 'Imagined in India' approach — one where products are conceived, designed, and technologically developed on Indian soil before being taken to global markets. She made the remarks while addressing the 53rd National Management Convention of the All India Management Association (AIMA) in New Delhi.

The 'Imagined in India' Vision

Sitharaman argued that India's economic ambitions must now reach beyond assembly lines and production floors. "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.

The minister underscored that India already possesses the foundational ingredients — market scale, entrepreneurial energy, and institutional capacity — needed to sustain significantly higher levels of economic growth. Execution, she cautioned, would determine whether these strengths are converted into durable national capabilities.

Capturing Value Beyond Manufacturing

While acknowledging that expanding manufacturing capacity remains important, Sitharaman stressed that India must increasingly claim value generated through design, engineering, software, patents, 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," she noted. This framing positions India's next growth chapter as one driven by intellectual property and high-skill output rather than volume alone — a shift that economists have long argued is essential for India to move up global value chains.

Professionalising Family-Owned Businesses

Sitharaman also addressed a structural challenge at the heart of India's business ecosystem: the governance of family-owned enterprises. She called for a clearer separation between ownership and management, well-defined role responsibilities, robust succession planning, and proactive conflict resolution mechanisms.

The minister urged AIMA to expand practical training programmes covering governance, succession planning, delegation of authority, and conflict management for family businesses. Strengthening these foundations, she argued, would help businesses sustain growth across generations.

On Startups and Long-Term Value

Sitharaman offered a pointed perspective on India's startup culture, cautioning against an obsession with headline metrics. "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.

The remark reflects a broader policy concern: India has produced over 100 unicorns, yet only a handful have scaled into sustainable, globally competitive corporations. The finance minister's framing signals that durability and profitability — not valuation milestones — should define success. Going forward, her comments are likely to shape conversations around India's innovation policy and the role of AIMA in building management capacity for the next generation of enterprises.