New Delhi: The government will continue with its reform agenda, focusing on the "nuts and bolts" of trust-based governance, but industry must step up investment in research and development and move beyond protectionism to help India emerge as a global manufacturing and innovation hub, Niti Aayog member Rajiv Gauba said on Tuesday.
Speaking at the CII's Annual Business Summit 2026, Gauba said shifting geopolitical dynamics and tariff wars had moved the global focus from efficiency to supply-chain resilience, creating an opportunity for India "to replicate the Apple story multiple times over" as it competes with countries such as Vietnam, Indonesia and Mexico to become a global production hub.
"What is needed now is nuts and bolts reforms, the unglamorous, the granular but vital change for businesses to open to operate and to shut down when necessary," Gauba said.
He said the next generation of reforms must make a clean and decisive break from the colonial mindset of distrust and punishment, even for minor violations, and move towards trust-based governance. According to Gauba, most big-ticket reforms within the Centre's domain have already been undertaken.
"And now we need the nitty-gritty, most of which is at the state level and at municipal level," he said.
Gauba said the Centre, along with the high-level committee on reforms, has set up a deregulation task force in the cabinet secretariat, which has formed sub-committees for each state headed by secretaries in the government.
"They are working with the states and the municipal corporations to identify major things that need to be done in respect of deregulation at the state and municipal level," he said.
Gauba urged industry to increase investment in R&D, shift from importing technology to creating it, and invest more in formal training. "Skilling cannot be the government's responsibility alone," he said.
He also asked India Inc to shed its instinct for protectionism and leverage trade agreements with the UK, EU and New Zealand.
Speaking at the CII's Annual Business Summit 2026, Gauba said shifting geopolitical dynamics and tariff wars had moved the global focus from efficiency to supply-chain resilience, creating an opportunity for India "to replicate the Apple story multiple times over" as it competes with countries such as Vietnam, Indonesia and Mexico to become a global production hub.
"What is needed now is nuts and bolts reforms, the unglamorous, the granular but vital change for businesses to open to operate and to shut down when necessary," Gauba said.
He said the next generation of reforms must make a clean and decisive break from the colonial mindset of distrust and punishment, even for minor violations, and move towards trust-based governance. According to Gauba, most big-ticket reforms within the Centre's domain have already been undertaken.
"And now we need the nitty-gritty, most of which is at the state level and at municipal level," he said.
Gauba said the Centre, along with the high-level committee on reforms, has set up a deregulation task force in the cabinet secretariat, which has formed sub-committees for each state headed by secretaries in the government.
"They are working with the states and the municipal corporations to identify major things that need to be done in respect of deregulation at the state and municipal level," he said.
Gauba urged industry to increase investment in R&D, shift from importing technology to creating it, and invest more in formal training. "Skilling cannot be the government's responsibility alone," he said.
He also asked India Inc to shed its instinct for protectionism and leverage trade agreements with the UK, EU and New Zealand.
