Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Pitching India as Investment Destination During Canada Visit

Union Finance Minister and Minister for Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman is currently visiting Canada to pitch India as an attractive investment destination and further strengthen bilateral economic ties between the two nations. During her meetings with top executives of Canadian financial institutions, pension funds, and insurance firms in Toronto, she emphasized India's resilient growth, expanding market, macroeconomic stability, and rapidly developing digital and physical infrastructure.

A key focus of the discussions was the liberalisation of India's insurance sector, which now permits up to 100 per cent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). The Finance Minister noted that the government's vision of 'Insurance for All by 2047' provides a significant opportunity for global investors looking at long-term capital deployment in the country.

During a meeting with Kevin D. Strain, President and CEO of Sun Life Financial, Sitharaman highlighted opportunities for the firm to deepen its presence in insurance, asset management, alternatives, and infrastructure, including through the GIFT IFSC. She also encouraged greater participation by Canadian institutional investors in India's broader growth story.

In a separate meeting with Canaccord Genuity Vice-Chair Rod Phillips and CEO Dan Daviau, discussions centered on increasing investment flows between Canada and India. The Finance Minister encouraged Canaccord Genuity to explore opportunities across India's growth sectors and assist Indian companies in accessing global capital, expanding internationally, and acquiring technology and overseas businesses.

Sitharaman also met with leadership from major pension funds, including Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) President and CEO John Graham, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (OTPP) President and CEO Jo Taylor, and OMERS President and CEO Blake Hutcheson. She appreciated CPPIB and OTPP's continued commitment, including their investment in the NIIF Infra Fund II, and encouraged them to expand investments into sectors such as transmission, renewable energy, roads, ports, urban infrastructure, digital infrastructure, and data centres.

Highlighting India's growing infrastructure monetisation pipeline, the Finance Minister pointed to ongoing efforts to strengthen investor protection, regulatory predictability, and transparency. She also noted emerging prospects in private credit and international financial services via GIFT IFSC, alongside an investor-friendly policy environment and greater tax certainty.

Concluding her engagements in Toronto, Sitharaman participated in a high-level Business Roundtable with CEOs, Presidents, and senior executives of leading Canadian companies. Noting that bilateral trade in goods and services stood at approximately $24 billion in 2024, she reiterated the shared ambition to scale two-way trade to $70 billion annually by 2030, emphasizing that collaboration extends beyond trade by combining Canada's capital, technology, innovation, and natural resources with India's scale, talent, and manufacturing capabilities.

"The outreach by the Finance Minister to prominent Canadian institutional investors and pension funds highlights India's steady push to attract long-term foreign capital into key sectors like infrastructure, insurance, and renewable energy. Permitting up to 100% FDI in insurance and promoting initiatives like the GIFT IFSC create structured pathways for global funds to participate in India's economic growth. For businesses and financial institutions looking at emerging markets, maintaining regulatory transparency and policy stability will remain critical factors in converting these bilateral trade and investment ambitions into reality." — Dr. Shishir Gupta, Founder & CEO, StartupLanes