Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi

New Delhi, Sep 4: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman held a series of meetings with CEOs and senior executives of global companies in New York, highlighting new investment opportunities emerging in India’s rapidly growing digital infrastructure sector, according to an official statement posted on X on Friday.

During a meeting with Sanjeev Ahuja, Chairman and CEO of Tillman Holdings, Sitharaman said India’s policy framework, including recent Budget announcements, was facilitating investment in digital infrastructure.

She highlighted the rapid growth of sectors such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), cloud computing, digital services and enterprise technology, saying they were generating sustained demand for data centres, high-capacity networks and reliable power infrastructure.

In this context, she said companies such as Tillman Holdings were well positioned to participate in the next phase of India’s digital infrastructure expansion.

The two sides also discussed opportunities for developing large-scale, resilient and sustainable digital infrastructure campuses in India.

India offers strong opportunities: Sitharaman

In another meeting with Marsh Re CEO Dean Klisura and Devanshu Dhyani, head of strategy and corporate development, Sitharaman said India offered global professional-services and risk-management companies a combination of a large domestic market, skilled talent, expanding infrastructure, digital capabilities and an increasingly reform-oriented business environment.

She said these strengths were supported by India’s robust economic performance, with the country remaining the fastest-growing major economy in the world.

Sitharaman pointed to 7.8 per cent GDP growth in the first quarter of FY 2026-27 as evidence of the country’s strong economic performance.

The Marsh Re team acknowledged and appreciated the reform orientation of the Indian government and said the company was keen to further expand its presence in India.

It particularly highlighted India’s level playing field and what it described as a well-informed regulator, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI).

Marsh Re also said it had strengthened its focus on GIFT City and was increasing its engagement with the financial ecosystem there across products and services.

BNY Mellon highlights India’s strategic role

At a meeting with Alejandro Perez, Group COO of BNY Mellon, discussions focused on India’s resilient growth trajectory and opportunities for deeper investment by global financial institutions.

Sitharaman highlighted India’s 7.8 per cent real GDP growth in Q1 of FY 2026-27, along with strong domestic demand, deepening financial markets and a reform-oriented policy environment as factors supporting investor confidence.

Perez highlighted BNY Mellon’s longstanding commitment to India and described the country as a critical market in the company’s global operations and growth strategy.

He also highlighted BNY Mellon’s engagement with leading Indian institutions, including IITs, with a focus on developing and nurturing high-quality talent.

Perez noted that the role of BNY Mellon’s India operations was evolving, with the country increasingly serving not only as a delivery centre but also as a strategic global hub for innovation, technology and advanced capabilities, including AI.

The discussions also covered opportunities arising from India’s expanding financial ecosystem, Digital Public Infrastructure, Global Capability Centres (GCCs) and GIFT City-IFSC.

Sitharaman invited the BNY Mellon team to visit GIFT-IFSC and explore the range of products and services available there.