San Francisco— Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman engaged with global CEOs, pension fund managers, and institutional investors in San Francisco on Monday, inviting them to participate in India’s dynamic growth story across sectors like energy, sustainability, digital infrastructure, and artificial intelligence.
During the discussions, Sitharaman highlighted key initiatives, including India’s ₹1 lakh crore ($12 billion) private sector-led research, development, and innovation fund, and the growing opportunities at GIFT-IFSC (Gujarat International Finance Tec-City).
Accompanied by Finance Secretary Ajay Seth and India’s Ambassador to the U.S., Vinay Mohan Kwatra, the minister listened to feedback on India’s reform agenda and policy framework. Investors expressed strong interest in expanding U.S.-India investment ties and shared suggestions to further enhance the investment climate.
In one-on-one meetings with top tech leaders, Sitharaman explored collaboration opportunities in AI, cloud services, and digital infrastructure. Jonathan Siddharth, CEO of Turing, voiced his ambition to position India at the forefront of the global AI revolution, working with Indian talent to develop sovereign AI models.
Sitharaman outlined India’s supportive AI policies and encouraged deeper engagement. Debanjan Saha, CEO of DataRobot, echoed India’s potential as an AI superpower and expressed interest in joining India’s AI Centre of Excellence, which received a ₹500 crore allocation in the 2025-26 Union Budget.
The Finance Minister also highlighted key initiatives like the IndiaAI Mission (₹10,300 crore), BharatGen and Sarvam-1 for AI language technologies, and the Srijan Centre for Generative AI at IIT Jodhpur.
Meetings also included Anjney Midha, General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, and Raghu Raghuram, CEO of VMware, where discussions centered on India’s technological transformation under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, with Sitharaman encouraging further collaboration in AI and digital sectors.
In talks with Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud, Sitharaman highlighted the progress of India’s Digital India initiative and its role in making the country a global leader in digital adoption. Kurian commended India’s AI ambitions and emphasized the need to enhance global connectivity through land and sea cables.
He also shared Google Cloud’s goal to operate entirely on carbon-free energy across its data centers and offices by 2030, along with upcoming investment plans for India.
The Finance Minister thanked all participants for their valuable insights and reiterated India’s openness to global partnerships across emerging sectors. (Source: IANS)
