Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran on Monday said that India’s economy remains in a strong and stable position despite an uncertain and difficult geopolitical environment.Speaking at the Indian Foundation for Quality Management (IFQM) Symposium 2026, the chairman said that the country has consistently exceeded expectations in recent years by posting the highest growth “in a world that is uncertain and difficult”.He also identified three areas that will be “critical” to sustaining long-term growth:
- Energy security
- Advanced and precision manufacturing jobs
- Investment in human capital
Strong domestic demand driving growth
Chandrasekaran said that India’s growth is being driven by strong domestic demand, services exports and an enabling policy environment from the government. Demand has also remained strong across auto sales, credit, power and cement.He pointed to several indicators to underline the strength of the economy. The current account deficit has remained consistently below one per cent of GDP, services exports are at about 11 per cent of GDP, forex reserves are strong and bank NPAs are healthy.He said these and other indicators show that India is in a stable and strong position. However, sustaining growth over a long period would require focus on several areas, with energy security, advanced and precision manufacturing jobs and investment in human capital being “critical”.
Viksit Bharat needs strong foundations
Chandrasekaran also spoke about the Viksit Bharat 2047 vision, saying it has percolated across multiple aspects of the country.He said achieving the vision would require inclusive and sustainable development built on world-class infrastructure, institutions and intellectual property.“… All three will be critical,” he said.Chandrasekaran, who was recently handed his third five-year term as Tata Sons Chairman amid an intense boardroom battle, also stressed the importance of quality in manufacturing.
Quality as a driver of competitiveness
The executive cited Toyota’s example saying that the Japanese auto giant did not look at quality only as an outcome, but focused on innovation and productivity at the same time.“Quality is definitely important to produce the outcome that we want … But it became a key driver for innovation, productivity and competitiveness for Toyota,” he said.He also cited Germany as a country that triggered a transformation by focusing on national competitive advantage through quality.“Be it in terms of engineering of their products or defining standards or precision or building their entire supplier and SME or the middle strand ecosystem….I think in India, we need such a transformation,” he said.Chandrasekaran also called on Indian manufacturers to bring sustainable manufacturing processes into their approach, along with quality and other factors.It has to “get embedded in our whole manufacturing ambition,” he said.He further added that this would help create strong leadership not only among big companies but also across the middle strand ecosystem. He said it would also create experts who could act as a force multiplier, helping India while becoming a global voice in shaping the future of how these products are produced globally.
