On the second day of his Singapore visit, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini took the stage at the SING FORUM (Singapore India Network for Growth) on Monday, 5 October 2026, laying out an ambitious pitch: turn Haryana into India's industrial powerhouse and, crucially, its innovation capital.

What Saini told Singapore's minister

At the forum, CM Saini held a focused discussion with Ms. Gan Siow Huang, Minister of State for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Energy, Trade and Industry, Singapore. The conversation ranged across infrastructure, industry, and deeper bilateral cooperation — concrete territory, not ceremonial pleasantries.

Saini described the talks as covering 'various aspects of strengthening infrastructure, industry, and mutual cooperation between Haryana and Singapore.' The subtext was unmistakable: Haryana was not in Singapore to sightsee.

Gurugram as a magnet for Singapore's tech firms

The Chief Minister identified Gurugram and surrounding areas as the prime canvas for Singapore investment. He specifically pitched opportunities in Technology and Professional Capability Centres — essentially high-skill R&D and services hubs that Singapore companies could anchor in Haryana. Add to that integrated townships, commercial development, and modern urban infrastructure, and the offer to Singaporean investors begins to take shape.

Gurugram already hosts dozens of Fortune 500 regional headquarters and a thick web of fintech, logistics, and mobility startups — making the 'innovation capital' label a stretch-goal with existing scaffolding beneath it.

The bigger ambition behind the hashtags

Saini's framing — #HappeningHaryana, #StartupHaryana, #ViksitHaryana — signals a deliberate brand-building exercise timed to a period when several Indian states are competing fiercely for foreign direct investment. The Singapore angle is particularly pointed: the city-state is one of the world's most sophisticated sources of urban-planning expertise and technology capital, with deep ties to India's business community.

The pitch for 'Professional Capability Centres' also signals Haryana's awareness that raw manufacturing alone will not define the next decade of growth — skilled-services and knowledge-economy investment are now just as prized.

Whether firm MOUs follow the forum conversation will be the real test — but Saini left Singapore's decision-makers with a clear address: Gurugram, and the state that surrounds it, is open for business.