JS Gujral — MD, Syrma SGS Technology Ltd, Sachin Seth — Regional Managing Director, CRIF India and South Asia, and Paula R Mariwala — Venture Capitalist join NDTV Profit's Nisha Poddar to discuss the idea of India. 

"There has not been any allocation. I understand the importance of Chabahar - the north-south route was also linked to that, going up to Moscow. At the moment, this is all I can say," said Nirmala Sitharaman on no allocation for Chabahar in the Union Budget.

"The risk is external challenges; India's private sector should participate in India's growth. No longer can any other reason be given as a valid reason. Because if there is more reason, let me know. And if government is a hindrance, I'll work to remove it. But come on, participate in India's growth," was Nirmala Sitharaman's big message.

"He (Vijay) will have an impact on the election. To what extent, that needs to be seen, and whose vote he is going to take away is the question. Is he going to take away all the supporters of DMK, particularly the women? And women in Tamil Nadu politics have a very, very powerful voice. Therefore, I think it's an interesting time to watch Tamil Nadu elections," said Nirmala Sitharaman.

Nirmala Sitharaman asserted that it "will be a strong fight" in Tamil Nadu. "The NDA Alliance, I think, is intact and strong, and if anything, it's moving in a very concerted fashion. So that's on the one side," she said.

"On the other hand, the ruling DMK cannot be confident and that's not me assessing. Their conduct in the last one month shows that," she said.

When she was asked about her assessment of the efficacy of her interventions on cryptocurrency and real money gaming and if it had the impact she thought it would, Nirmala Sitharaman said, "At least I'm trailing them, am I not? At least I know which are the ones who are going and where is it going."

"If you look at it, I've not touched anything other than the futures and options. And the reason why we wanted to bring in this little increase. It was more for deterrent purposes rather than for revenue purposes.and it's not going by anecdotal examples. Even Sebi in its study found that 90% of them who engaged in futures and options lost money," said Nirmala Sitharaman.

"I'm not suggesting that it is the one and only thing which can address it, and therefore I've done it. And I'm saying I have no further intentions of doing anything more. We'll have to try," she said.

"Fund flow internationally seems to have more than just commercial considerations. Economies are doing well. Then you have every such indicator which would draw funds towards it. Really being on an uptick. Even then, the flow is not a flow sometimes. I won't say it's a trickle, but sometimes it doesn't flow as much as you expect it to. Fund flows have more than just a commercial interest in their minds. Strategic interests also seem to be one of the very important factors," said Nirmala Sitharaman.

"So every trade deal is important and it certainly lifts the spirit of the exporters and people who are looking for newer markets and so on. And if the chief economic advisor has given you a number, go by that. I normally don't," said Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman when asked if she would revise GDP growth numbers given the tailwinds after US trade deal.

"India is an importer of apples. Our production is about 20-21 lakh tons. Our consumption is about 26-27 lakh tons. We continue to import 5.5 lakh tons or thereabouts every year. Consumption continues to increase. So while we are trying to increase productivity, we still continue to have outpaced demand, which is clearly leading to more shortages," said Piyush Goyal.

Then, he went on to explain what the government is doing to help apple farmers.

"We put a floor, minimum import price, Rs 50 per kilo. Nobody can import below that. And there's a 50% duty, 25 bucks, so Rs 75 when it lands at the port is the minimum average anybody can bring from abroad. Then there are the costs associated with it. So really our farmers have easily a protection of up to 100 bucks or thereabouts," he said.

"In this deal, we have done a calibrated opening of a quota which is less than what we are importing today from America, and that we've kept a minimum import price of Rs 80 and a Rs 20 duty on that," he added.

"Indian farmers are protected and Indian farmers will. In fact, get many, many more opportunities to export goods, where we have a lot of potential, where we get zero duty access, or others where reciprocal tariffs fall to 18," said Piyush Goyal.

"India stands to gain a lot from products that we can get from the US. After all, we do need to get products like artificial intelligence equipment or data center equipment or quantum computing machinery. Now, all of these very often face difficulties and controls in different geographies. With the unlocking of this relationship to the higher levels and with a deep friendship between our leaders, this will ensure a free flow of products that are needed in India. This will help us get our aircraft engines and spare parts faster, which we need," said Piyush Goyal.

"This trade agreement gives us a competitive advantage, a comparative advantage over all the other nations with which we compete. So China has 35%, uh, Vietnam has probably 20%. So all our basic countries with whom we compete have a higher rate. We also have several zeros, both in farm produce that we export and industrial goods, which we will continue to export at zero. I think the potential of growing exports to the US is humongous," said Piyush Goyal. 

"It has been done with sincerity and with the best interests of the nation at heart. To get 100% success is obviously not easy. It takes time. And I thinkit's been a nice journey. Over the last one year, since Prime Minister Modi and President Trump decided that we should have a bilateral trade agreement and the first tranche of which we should start negotiating," said Piyush Goyal, Minister for Commerce and Industry on what went behind the US-India trade deal.

"It's been truly a labour of love where I got very good support and cooperation from everybody," he said.

"We have a fairly large drone ecosystem in this country. They were not producing too many military-grade drones, but as a result of Operation Sindoor, they've come to realise that they have to operate in contested environments within GPS-denial environments and that hardening the provision or the introduction of the required package to ensure that they can survive jamming. All that is happening," said Rajesh Kumar Singh, Defence Secretary.

"You will also have these technology transfers. A lot of the Israeli companies, they are, they've entered into technology transfer with Indian companies in the private sector, and so we will, I think, have a fairly large, fairly robust military drone ecosystem," he said.

"I think Tejas is a fairly capable aircraft and the issue is, of course, that some of the weapons integration took some time. Now that the engines have finally started coming. We have 5 available and hopefully at least 5 more on the way in this current financial year, and the delivery is reasonably stable at about 20 and near every financial year thereafter," said Rajesh Kumar Singh, Defence Secretary.

"It was a leap of faith for all of us," Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh said on opening up the project for building 5 prototypes of the AMCA aircraft to the private sector.

"When we made our projections to the 16 finance commission, I'd asked for a 19% year on year increase in the, particularly in the capital outlay for the defence ministry. We are very thankful to the Ministry of Finance. Of course, the experience of Op Sindoor would have also weighed on them to some extent," said Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh.

"We are very happy with the increase in overall capital outlay of 21% and an increase in the modernisation part of the budget," he said.

"Inflation is running at below 2per cent. Other indicators of the macros are also in good shape. The current account is in decent shape. The fiscal deficit is slowly coming down," said Sanjeev Sanyal, Member, PM-EAC.

"Today, the net NPA level of the banking system is down to 0.5%. Healthy by any standards around the world, well capitalized and in good shape, so if you we are generating this sort of growth without those stresses, suggesting to me that we can not just sustain this, if the circumstances open up, let's say because of the trade deals and other things, we may be able to sustain significantly higher growth rates into the future," he said.

On the big Russia oil import question, Sanjeev Sanyal, Member, PM-EAC said, "It is always the case that we are looking for cheap resources for the Indian economy".

"We have, I think, more or less made it clear that we will continue to have this view of the world into the future. That does not mean that we will not take into account the views of our allies, but our allies also have to understand that we have our own imperatives, and I think some adjustments will be arrived at," he said.

"What we know so far as far as I understand it, we have a very solid deal in the pipeline. My understanding is that we got what we wanted, and I think so did the US, so it should be a good deal for both sides," said Sanjeev Sanyal, Member PM-EAC

Devina Mehra commented on the behaviour of cyclicals and ongoing market volatility, emphasising that diversification and an optimal portfolio mix remain crucial for long-term investment success.

Adding to the market perspective, N Jayakumar noted that the recent US trade deal has helped allay several uncertainty fears, restoring confidence among global investors. He highlighted that the agreement has also contributed to the return of foreign flows, coming at an opportune moment for the Indian market.

Jayakumar further expressed a bullish outlook on the pharmaceutical sector, indicating strong potential ahead as global dynamics align in favour of Indian pharma companies.

Devina Mehra, Founder and CMD, First Global, N Jayakumar, Managing Director, Prime Securities, Dharmesh Mehta, MD & CEO, DAM Capital Advisors, and Gurmeet Chadha, CIO & Managing Partner, Complete Circle decode the impact of tariffs on trade, and the new risk paradigm that investors need to bear in mind.

Dr Faruk Patel, Chairman and Managing Director, KP Group, expressed confidence that by 2030, Indian companies will be able to compete on the global stage with China when it comes to inputs for solar and wind turbines.

"Of course, it will happen by 2030, at least to reach our target. We will be mature enough to compete in the renewable space, like solar panels, inverters, and of course, the turbines and all," he said.

"I personally think that the rupee would be one of the big beneficiaries of this trade agreement with the United States," said V Anantha Nageswaran, Chief Economic Adviser.

"If the Iran situation doesn't get out of control in the Middle East, and oil prices remain the same from an oil procurement perspective, it may not necessarily mean a big deal of difference to India. Russia is aware of the fact that after the Rosneft and Lukoil sanctions were announced, there was a natural tendency for India to remain cautious because we didn't want to expose our financial system to sanctions as well, so they also understand the compulsions," said V Anantha Nageswaran, Chief Economic Adviser.

"This was quite an intense year, I must say we are happy that both these two trade agreements set up the economy nicely for 2026- 27," said Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran.

"It's very positive for the sectors who have got impacted because of the tariffs that was raised up to 50%, and a lot of these sectors were labor intensive sectors, and beyond a point, a lot of these companies were MSMEs who were 100%, a large part of their revenues were really from exports to US so for many of them it was an existential issue," said Rajiv Memani, Chairman and CEO - EY India.

"We have reached the final stage, which is the evaluation and approval stage. You will hear more from us by the end of March, the end of the current financial year," said Dr Arunish Chawla, Secretary, DIPAM on bidding for strategic disinvestment in the IDBI Bank.

"The 80,000 crore target that you're talking about includes not just traditional disinvestment. not just a traditional land sale. It includes all the new innovative forms of asset monetisation, all the new innovative forms of asset monetisation," said Dr Arunish Chawla, Secretary, DIPAM.

"We are not a Department of Disinvestment anymore. We are DIPAM. We are a department for investments. We are a department for public asset management. And we light diyas in the lives of ordinary investors and minority stakeholders," said Dr Arunish Chawla, Secretary, DIPAM.

Yashish Dahiya, Co‑Founder, Chairman & Group CEO, PB Fintech, shared his perspective on the rapidly evolving impact of artificial intelligence, noting that AI is increasingly becoming a commodity. He explained that, like any commodity, its price continues to decline, making advanced AI capabilities progressively more accessible.

Dahiya believes this trend will lead to AI becoming affordable for everyone, enabling widespread adoption across sectors and user groups. He added that AI is not only easy to use but also profoundly transformative, reshaping industries and empowering individuals and businesses with unprecedented efficiency and innovation.

"As we do these trade deals, we all become friendly in trade with each other. So those regulators will also accept us much more if the UK Financial Services wants to be here, then why doesn't our financial services want to be there?" said Yashish Dahiya, Co-founder, Chairman and Group CEO, PB Fintech.

MSME is contributing close to 30% in manufacturing and also about 45% in the exports, so they are a very important pillar. Now if the budget and the government are focusing more on infrastructure spending, the manufacturing service sector. All these sectors are ultimately going to boost. And I think NBFC, the sector, is going to help them meet the last mile connectivity where the formal banking system is not able to meet their demand because they are not that well organised in terms of offering paperwork and meeting the complex credit requirement," said Rajesh Sharma, Managing Director, Capri Global Capital Ltd.

"Recent RBI focus and even the mentioning of NBFC in the budget that NBFC is going to play a role, which clearly brings a forecast that NBFCs are going to play an important role, and we are, we are glad that now everybody, including the government and RBI recognising that that is going to help us," he added.

"I think, as you rightly said, the US trade deal put a lot of uncertainty to rest, and a lot of apprehensions about a very penal kind of tariffs on some of our sectors. Since I come from the auto sector, I particularly know that the auto component sector was up against a wall. They had to face something like a 50% tariff, which is just impossible to penetrate," said Rahul Bharti, Executive Director, Corporate Affairs, Maruti Suzuki.

"So across sectors, I think it will open up a big opportunity for exports. We don't think there are many areas of sensitivity where there are many concerns," he said.

"We must all agree as a country to stop talking about headline GDP growth. It matters almost nothing to the average aam admi. There is a very clear divorce between headline GDP and incomes and prices for the common person, and it's not just in India but throughout the world," said Praveen Chakravarty, Economist and Chairman of the All India Professionals' Congress.

"Inflation is at one of the lowest levels, highly manageable level. And how does it not help the common man when the inflation is low? Does it not help the salaried class when the growth when we are the fastest growing large economy in the world. Yesterday, the RBI said they have further improved our estimates for this year at 7.3% growth rate. Does it not help it happened and among the three pillars that finance minister, I repeat, I go back to the speech. Among the three pillars she talked about growth. She talked about inclusivity," said GVL Narsimha Rao, former Rajya Sabha MP on India's growth.

"There is everything in this budget regarding farmers, the youth, the women, every section is benefiting from this growth, and that's why after a long time there is a sense of happiness when the GST rates were cut down 6 months ago, 4 months ago. GST is paid by everybody. The rich man, the poor man, everyone pays GST, and they have been given a huge relief," he said.

Praveen Chakravarty, Economist and Chairman of the All India Professionals’ Congress, and GVL Narsimha Rao, former Rajya Sabha MP and member of Parliament’s Standing Committee on Finance, join NDTV's Vasudha Venugopal in a panel titled 'The Economics of India’s Next Decade'.

The NDTV Profit Conclave 2026 brings together a powerful lineup of policymakers shaping India's economic and strategic agenda. The discussions feature Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran, DIPAM Secretary Arunish Chawla, Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh, and PM-EAC Member Sanjeev Sanyal, alongside industry leaders, to decode trade, tariffs and India's global ambitions.