Why India is an 'oasis' amid global chaos, explains FICCI chief Anant Goenka

India is emerging as an “oasis” amid global geopolitical and economic chaos, Anant Goenka, Vice Chairman, RPG Group and President, FICCI, said on Thursday, speaking at the India Today BRICS Roundtable in New Delhi.Goenka said India's macroeconomic fundamentals were “possibly the best in the world” even as businesses globally grapple with wars, supply-chain disruptions, rising commodity prices and uncertainty.“While the world is undergoing chaos, I think India is the oasis today,” Goenka said.He mentioned factors such as strong corporate balance sheets, lower debt, political stability and a continued reform push giving the country a window to accelerate growth. WHY GOENKA CALLS INDIA AN ‘OASIS’Goenka said India's relative resilience was not simply a result of strong GDP growth, but reflected improvements across several underlying economic indicators.He pointed to lower debt levels at the country level, stronger corporate balance sheets and non-performing assets at banks being at an all-time low. Political stability and a continuous path of reforms were other factors supporting India's economic position, he said. Goenka also highlighted improvements in ease of doing business, efforts to bring down logistics costs and India's increasing focus on renewable power.“Decades happen in weeks,” Goenka said, arguing that the current period of global uncertainty could accelerate India's growth as companies look to diversify their supply chains and reassess investment destinations.He said countries and businesses were clearly looking at diversifying supply chains, making the opportunity for India one that was “still to be grabbed”.JOBS CRISIS RISK: MANUFACTURING IS THE ANSWERGoenka, however, acknowledged that India's opportunity comes with a significant challenge, employment.Asked whether India was facing a jobs crisis amid de-hiring trends and automation, particularly in sectors such as IT, Goenka said there was “some risk of jobs crisis”. But he argued that the bigger opportunity was to turn India into a manufacturing powerhouse.He said manufacturing currently accounts for around 15% of India's GDP and should rise to 25% over the longer term.“If that pace, we are able to see a 15-17% growth on the manufacturing side, it will take care of the jobs opportunity,” he said.While automation and highly productive “dark factories” could reduce the need for some forms of labour, Goenka said manufacturing growth at scale could create enough employment opportunities to offset those pressures.He also pointed to services, startups, space, robotics and other emerging sectors as future sources of jobs. But he said India needs to build capabilities in these sectors domestically rather than rely heavily on imports.His example was robotics: if households increasingly use robots for tasks that were traditionally performed by domestic workers, India should focus on producing those machines itself and creating the associated jobs and value chains within the country.INDIA INC NEEDS TO THINK BEYOND INDIAGoenka also called on Indian companies to become more ambitious in global markets.He said Indian businesses have an opportunity to benefit from supply-chain diversification but need to invest more deliberately in understanding overseas customers, building local sales capabilities and developing products suited to individual markets.He cited RPG's tyre business as an example, saying tyre requirements vary substantially across Europe, the US and the Middle East because of differences in weather, roads and driving conditions.Goenka said Indian companies need to spend more time understanding these markets, innovating for their specific requirements and building stronger go-to-market strategies.WHAT INDIA INC EXPECTS FROM BRICSFor Indian industry, Goenka said BRICS could create opportunities across trade, cross-investment and technology transfer, particularly at a time when the global trading system is undergoing major changes.He said the grouping's focus on resilience, innovation, cooperation and sustainability was particularly relevant amid wars, uncertainty over raw material prices and logistical disruptions.According to Goenka, stronger cooperation among BRICS countries could help businesses access multiple sources of energy and logistics, share best practices in areas such as regenerative agriculture and decarbonisation, and create new opportunities for investment and technology transfer.He also pointed to new trade agreements as another avenue for Indian businesses, urging companies to examine how the agreements could open up “new tributaries for growth”.India is set to host the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi on September 12–13, with the grouping's discussions expected to focus on resilience, innovation, cooperation, sustainability, trade, energy security and critical supply chains.- EndsPublished On: Sep 10, 2026 12:00 IST