India emerges as a stable growth anchor in Davos amid global challenges, says CII

India was repeatedly cited as a reliable long-term growth anchor during discussions at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting, amid persistent geopolitical uncertainty clouding the global outlook, the Confederation of Indian Industry said on Friday.

Describing the mood at Davos as “cautiously optimistic and strategically focused”, CII director general Chandrajit Banerjee said geopolitical tensions framed the conversations but did not overwhelm economic priorities.




“Geopolitics clearly shaped the backdrop, but it didn’t crowd out the economic agenda, rather it sharpened it. Leaders and investors used the moment to rethink supply chain resilience, trade diversification, and capital allocation toward economies that offer stability, scale, and policy predictability,” Banerjee told PTI.

Against this backdrop, he said India was frequently highlighted as a credible long-term growth anchor, citing its macroeconomic stability, large domestic market and sustained reform momentum.

Artificial intelligence emerged as one of the most dominant themes at this year’s Davos meeting, cutting across sectors and policy discussions, Banerjee said, adding that India is seen as well placed to benefit from this shift.

“Within this context, India is widely seen as well positioned to capitalise on this AI inflection point, combining a large and digitally enabled market, one of the world’s deepest pools of STEM talent, a rapidly expanding data ecosystem, and a strong foundation of digital public infrastructure,” he said.

Banerjee said India has also positioned itself as an active contributor to the global debate on responsible and inclusive AI, advocating interoperable standards, trusted data flows and innovation partnerships that balance openness with digital sovereignty.

There is a shared understanding, he added, that AI is no longer a frontier technology but is becoming core economic infrastructure, shaping competitiveness, investment decisions and national growth strategies for the coming decade.

Highlighting the broader global context, Banerjee said India has shown resilience despite a challenging external environment, but sustaining this momentum will require sharper strategic focus.

Supply-side disruptions, he said, are increasingly likely across regions and are becoming structural rather than temporary. Commodities with high supply concentration and limited short-term substitutability, spanning both food and industrial inputs, are the most vulnerable.

“This underscores the strategic importance of diversification, regionalisation, and resilience-building in global and Indian supply chains,” Banerjee said.