Built by Indians, Open to the World

The idea

Picture a founder in Bengaluru raising her third round from a global fund. The fund owns half the profits, and she keeps 51% of the votes through shares with extra voting rights. She can raise as much as she needs and still steer the company she built.

Picture a chip fab in Gujarat, fully owned by a foreign group, spending billions on Indian soil, welcomed on the same open terms as today.

Picture a family in Lucknow checking a public dashboard before giving to a school charity. Every rupee in and out appears within 48 hours, and the trustees are named.

Picture an oil cargo from the Gulf paid for in rupees, which the seller then invests in Indian government bonds.

I believe a confident nation welcomes capital from everywhere and keeps the steering wheel at home. In 1991 we opened our doors to the world, and it changed our economy. The next step is to make sure Indians control the companies they found, the causes they fund and the currency we trade in, while the world is invited to share in our growth. That is what Sovereignty first means to me.

America, my benchmark for capitalism, shows how openness and control fit together. Its founders keep control through shares with extra votes, even after they list, and it screens foreign deals only for national security, on a fixed clock: 45 days to review, and 45 more only when a deal needs a closer look. India adopts the same approach within 1 year and publishes how its clock compares.

Why now

Here is what I see.

Capital arrives, and we can keep more of it working here. In FY26, after money flowed back out, net FDI came to $7.7 billion of a much larger gross flow. Clear, stable rules on control can turn more of that flow into lasting investment.

Rupee trade has a long runway. About 6% of our exports were invoiced in rupees in April to December FY26. Every step up saves exporters conversion costs and builds demand for rupee assets.

The doors are opening. Four new trade deals are in force, with the UK, Oman, EFTA and New Zealand, and the EU deal was concluded in January 2026.

Indian giving is ready to lead. Foreign donations to Indian bodies came to about ₹18,580 crore a year from 2019 to 2022, a sum our own growing middle class can carry forward on open books.

The big moves

Here is the path I see, one step after another.

1. First, keep big capital fully welcome. Listed companies and large projects, such as fabs, factories, power plants, ports and data centres, keep today's open terms for foreign investors. One way is to treat any project of ₹500 crore or more of real spending this way. Investors see from day one that India's door stays wide open.

2. Next, let Indians steer the new mid-size firms they build. In new unlisted companies below that size, Indian residents hold the majority of votes and foreign investors can own up to half the profits, with extra-voting shares making the split work. Startups follow the same rule and open fully once they list or grow large, and Indian-founded companies abroad get a fast track home.

3. Then put every large not-for-profit on open books. Every body above a set size, for example ₹1 crore of yearly receipts, of every faith and cause, shows its money in and out on a public dashboard within 48 hours, with trustees named and a randomly assigned auditor each year. The same rule applies to everyone.

4. Alongside, give foreign goodwill one open door. After a 12-month wind-down, foreign donors give through an independent India Development Trust, choosing a sector and a district, with every grant published and audited by the CAG. Indian giving carries Indian causes, and paid research contracts stay open as trade.

5. Finally, trade more in rupees, under more trade deals. We offer rupee invoicing in every government trade contract, start where India is the large buyer, such as Gulf oil and gas, and widen rupee accounts to every trade-deal partner. We sign the EU deal, use the new deals to the full and move the US and Gulf talks forward.

Today vs the new way

Here is how I see the new way comparing with today on capital, giving and trade.

Big capital stays as open as today, Indians gain control of what they build, and giving and trade become open and cheaper.

Proof it works

Countries keep control of chosen sectors at home. The Philippines Constitution has long required 60% Filipino ownership of public utilities, and many countries keep similar rules for chosen sectors.

America screens for security and stays open. The United States reviews foreign deals that touch national security through its Committee on Foreign Investment, CFIUS. A short declaration is assessed in 30 days, and a full notice is reviewed in 45 days, followed by a 45-day investigation only when needed. Every other deal goes ahead without approval, and capital keeps flowing in.

India's Supreme Court has backed limits on foreign donations. In Noel Harper v Union of India (2022), the Court upheld the 2020 tightening of the foreign contribution law and held that receiving foreign contributions is a matter for Parliament to regulate.

Open charity books are routine elsewhere. In the United Kingdom, registered charities file their accounts and annual returns on a public register run by the Charity Commission.

Rupee trade already works. India and the UAE set up a local-currency settlement system in July 2023, and Indian Oil paid for UAE crude in rupees in August 2023.

What success looks like

• In the first 30 days: the Indian control rule is notified for new investments, the 1-page conversion form for not-for-profits is live, and RBI publishes a baseline of rupee invoicing by partner.
• Within 1 year: every not-for-profit above ₹1 crore is converted or filing openly, and the India Development Trust is making grants.
• Within 1 year: at least 10% of goods exports are invoiced in rupees, and rupee trade accounts are live with every trade-deal partner.
• Within 1 year: every approval and security-review decision time is published each quarter beside America's 45-day review clock.
• Within 1 year: the EU deal is signed, Gulf negotiations are open, and the US agreement is concluded or its open issues are published.

Guardrail ideas

Ideas to start the conversation, for the builders, experts and the public to shape together.

• Every existing investment stays as it is. The control rule applies only to investments made after notification day, so holdings such as Suzuki's majority in Maruti carry on unchanged.
• Fast, predictable approvals. Approval-route FDI is decided within 30 days or approved by default, with a 60-day clock for the security review of proposals from land-border countries, inside the 90 days America allows for its own review and investigation.
• One rule for every cause. The same disclosure applies to every body whatever its cause, faith or funders, with audits picked at random and registration cancelled only by a court after a hearing.
• A steady rupee. The capital account opens step by step, and total government bond holdings from rupee trade accounts stay within 2% of outstanding central bonds.

FAQs

Q: Will the 51% voting rule slow the capital India needs?

A: Big capital stays fully welcome. Listed firms and projects of ₹500 crore or more keep today's open terms, every existing holding stays as it is, and foreign investors keep up to half the profits of every new firm. India gains capital and control together.

Q: Will startups lose venture money?

A: Founders gain the freedom to raise more while keeping control. Foreign funds can still own up to half of every startup's economics, extra voting shares protect the founder, and the Chapter 16 fund of funds adds Indian venture capital.

Q: What about hospitals, relief and research funded from abroad?

A: They keep their path to support. A 12-month wind-down gives time to plan, the India Development Trust carries foreign gifts to the same sectors and districts, multilateral funds flow through the government, and research contracts continue as trade.

The detailed blueprint for this chapter, a starting draft for the mission heads, industry and the private sector to refine, is in the Implementation Annex.