Mumbai: Global banking major Citi's Chief Executive Officer Jane Fraser on Thursday expressed confidence in India's long-term growth prospects, saying the country's growth story remains intact despite near-term challenges.
Emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) could unlock significant opportunities across the economy, she said.
Speaking at the Citi India Conference 2026 after a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Fraser said India continues to stand out globally because of its reform momentum, digital transformation and technology talent.
"The long-term story in India is very much intact," Fraser said.
Describing India as the world's fastest-growing major economy, she urged investors and businesses not to focus excessively on short-term challenges.
"India's got to stop selling itself short, guys. Come on," Fraser said, adding, "Still the fastest growing major economy in the world."
Fraser said Prime Minister Modi conveyed a strong commitment to continuing the reform agenda and supporting industry growth.
"He gave me a couple of very clear messages in terms of the commitment to the reform agenda and continuing," she said.
The Citi CEO said digitisation has fundamentally altered India's growth trajectory and was among the most striking changes she has observed over the years.
"I remember when the payments network got developed and the digitisation, the digital identity, and the speed with which that happened... I'm going to think, this is not an India I know," she said.
Fraser also highlighted India's growing role in the global AI ecosystem, pointing to significant investments in data centres and digital infrastructure.
"We talked about the big data centre builds that are going on here and the large investments that have been made by people, Microsoft, AWS," she said, adding that there are "a lot of other big investments that are happening in the AI infrastructure".
Expressing optimism about India's ability to benefit from the next technology wave, Fraser said, "For a country with so much talent in the technology space, there's going to be some really exciting things ahead."
She said AI has the potential to drive entrepreneurship and economic opportunities beyond urban centres.
"I'm hopeful that that's where we can also see AI unleashing new vectors into the rural populations, unleashing more entrepreneurship and getting more into the body of the country," Fraser said.
Referring to India's development approach, Fraser contrasted it with economies that seek to preserve existing structures rather than adapt to change.
"There are countries and there are companies that protect what they have. Then there are countries and companies where they build what they need, even if that means disrupting what they have. That's India," she said.
Fraser added that India's continued focus on infrastructure, digitisation, renewable energy and technology adoption positions it well for sustained long-term growth.
She added that global deal activity could be a little bit more muted in the second half of 2026 amid geopolitical uncertainties and concerns around interest rates, though the longer-term outlook remains positive.
"Deal flow has been very active, and I think we see a lot," she said.
Fraser said companies have been the source of resiliency in the global economy over the past few years, citing their ability to adjust supply chains, maintain balance-sheet flexibility and diversify earnings streams.
"Companies that do well are those that are agile," she said.
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