The government has more reforms coming , and it wants Indian businesses to be ready to meet them halfway. Shaktikanta Das, Principal Secretary-2 to the Prime Minister, used his address at the CII Annual Business Summit on Monday to deliver a clear message to India Inc: the era of incremental thinking is over, and the window for bold, strategic action is now.

"There is no reform complacency, and I would like to highlight and emphasise this sentence. Policy consistency combined with timely and calibrated reforms are expected to ensure that India not only maintains macroeconomic stability, but also emerges as a globally competitive and inclusive economy," Das said.

He added that more was in the pipeline. "Several other initiatives which are in the pipeline... will follow in the coming months and years to strengthen the long-term resilience of our economy."

Das outlined the government's ongoing efforts to build strategic self-reliance across a range of sectors, from rare earths and permanent magnets to critical minerals, shipbuilding, cotton productivity, and artificial intelligence

The case against the corner solution

A central theme of Das's address was the danger of over-concentration, what he described as the traditional "corner solution" model. This refers to an overreliance on a single source of production, just-in-time supply chains, or dependence on a single supplier. That model, he argued, is increasingly unfit for purpose.

Seven suggestions for India Inc

1. Strengthen risk management: 

Das urged companies to improve decision-making agility and proactively anticipate market, technological, and other emerging developments. "The message that you must give to the international community is that India is ready, ready to do business, ready to innovate and ready to contribute to global prosperity," he said.

2. Fortify balance sheets:

Strong balance sheets, he argued, provide the flexibility to weather external shocks, manage cash-flow pressure, and invest when opportunities arise. "Indian firms should prioritise prudent leverage, robust liquidity buffers and forward-looking capital allocation while building new supply chains," he said.

3. Diversify supply chains:

Companies should proactively diversify sourcing, localise critical inputs wherever feasible, and integrate into multiple global value chains, reducing exposure to external shocks while positioning themselves as reliable partners in the evolving global trading system.

4. Reskill manpower: 

As technology, automation, and AI reshape industries, workforce readiness will be a defining competitive edge. "Continuous reskilling and upskilling through vocational training and industry-academia collaboration, particularly in digital manufacturing and advanced technical domains, must become an organisational priority," Das said, adding that investing in human capital would improve productivity and foster a stronger, more inclusive corporate culture.

5. Diversify into new markets: 

Overdependence on a narrow set of geographies increases vulnerability, particularly for exporters. Das encouraged Indian businesses to actively explore new export markets and leverage India's growing economic and diplomatic influence. "Market diversification would spread risks, stabilise revenue streams and allow firms to tap into new growth corridors and demand patterns," he said.

6. Invest in technology and innovation 

Das urged companies to invest strategically in technology, sustainability, and capacity-building, not as a reaction to structural shifts, but to get ahead of them. "This would enable firms to capitalise on structural shifts, rather than merely reacting to them," he said.

7. Treat R&D as a strategic investment, not a cost: 

The final and perhaps most pointed suggestion was a direct challenge to how many Indian firms account for research spending. "Expenditure on R&D by corporates should not be seen as a cost centre. It must be seen as a strategic investment," Das said.

Published on: May 12, 2026 10:42 AM IST