KPMG India CEO hails India's resilience, calls for trade diversification

New Delhi: India has displayed resilience in the face of rising geopolitical tensions, global trade uncertainties and supply-chain disruptions, sustaining strong economic growth and domestic consumption, said Yezdi Nagporewalla, chief executive officer (CEO) of KPMG in India.

He cautioned that geopolitical uncertainty and its impact on global trade and supply chains are likely to persist. The key question, Nagporewalla said, is how effectively India can navigate this environment while sustaining growth and innovation.

“If you look at GDP (gross domestic product) growth and the broader economic indicators, India has demonstrated sustainability and resilience. Despite global challenges, we have continued to grow, supported by the strength of domestic consumption,” Nagporewalla told Mint on the sidelines of ENRich 2026, KPMG's annual conference on energy and natural resources being held in New Delhi on 2-3 November.

India's real GDP grew 7.8% year-on-year in the April-June quarter of FY27, compared with 6.9% in the corresponding quarter a year earlier, according to data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI).

Nagporewalla said that the world is moving away from the model of globalisation that prevailed a decade ago, as countries become more inward-looking and forge new trade relationships with other markets.

“The USA has traditionally been a key trading partner, but recent developments have reinforced the need for India to diversify its trade relationships, strengthen global supply chains and build greater domestic resilience. This also presents an opportunity to enhance India’s attractiveness as a global trade and investment destination,” he added.

The global business environment has been increasingly shaped by geopolitical realignments, rising trade protectionism and disruptions to critical supply chains. The ongoing conflict in West Asia has heightened concerns around energy security and shipping routes, while tariff uncertainties and strategic tensions between major economies such as the US and China are reshaping global trade flows, he said.

Asked whether India would move away from its identity as a services-led economy to become a manufacturing-led one, Nagporewalla said there is a concerted effort to strengthen the manufacturing sector.

In October, Mint wrote about how India's manufacturing startups have seen a surge in investor interest and a sharp rise in revenue as the country steps up efforts to boost domestic manufacturing. Funding in such startups has jumped from $164 million in 2020 when the pandemic arrived to $1.92 billion so far in 2026, according to data platform Venture Intelligence.

“We need the right balance between manufacturing and services. The changes brought about by AI are also transforming the services industry, making it important for India to diversify its economic strengths - sectors like semiconductor, critical minerals and data centres, for instance," he added.

The fact that services have traditionally played a dominant role in India's economy has also shaped the country's skills and talent landscape, added Nagporewalla. However, artificial intelligence (AI) is changing the nature of that demand.

A KPMG 2026 India CEO Outlook report, released recently, showed that attracting and retaining talent (54%) and addressing skill gaps (53%) are among the leading workforce challenges for Indian CEOs.

“The challenge for corporates today is to enable their existing workforce to work effectively with AI. This will require both upskilling and reskilling. The skills that made someone employable a few years ago may no longer be sufficient. Today, employees also need the ability to work alongside AI,” said Nagporewalla.

Speaking about the impact of AI in the consulting industry, Nagporewalla said that the new technology is set to reshape the assurance, tax and advisory businesses, not just consulting.

“From automating assurance processes and analysing legal precedents in tax to streamlining technology implementation in advisory, its potential to improve productivity is significant. We are already embedding AI into our processes to enhance efficiency and strengthen delivery. However, human judgement and oversight will remain central, particularly in ensuring accuracy and maintaining quality,” he added.

Speaking about the use of AI at KPMG, Nagporewalla said the firm’s AI strategy has two broad dimensions. The first is internal adoption, with a significant amount of the firm's research now being automated or supported by agents. “We are also introducing agents into internal operational processes. The second dimension is integrating AI into our client engagements. We are working to ensure that AI capabilities form part of our major engagements,” he added.

About the Author

Nabodita is a New Delhi-based journalist who covers India’s startup ecosystem and venture-capital landscape. She enjoys reporting on emerging companies, funding trends, founders, and the policies shaping the innovation economy. Before this, she worked with Outlook Business and The Hindu Businessline. When she’s not chasing stories, you’ll find her with a cup of coffee, watching a good comedy, or getting lost in a book. She believes there’s always a good story waiting to be discovered, sometimes in a boardroom and sometimes over a great cup of coffee.