NEW DELHI: With India facing an additional 25% tariff imposed by the United States, Mahindra Group Chairperson Anand Mahindra has advocated two decisive steps for India to overcome these challenges and turn the situation into an opportunity. First, India must radically improve the ease of doing business. Second, it should unlock the power of tourism as a foreign exchange engine.
Mahindra said that India must go beyond incremental reform and create a genuinely effective single-window clearance system for all investment proposals.
“While states control many investment regulations, we can begin with a coalition of willing states aligning with a national single-window platform. If we demonstrate speed, simplicity, and predictability, we can make India an irresistible destination for global capital in a world seeking trusted partners,” said Mahindra on social media platform X.
On tourism, Mahindra said that it is one of the most underexploited sources of foreign exchange and employment. “We need to dramatically accelerate visa processing, improve tourist facilitation, and build dedicated tourism corridors around existing hotspots, offering assured security, sanitation, and hygiene. These corridors can serve as models of excellence, encouraging other regions to emulate and raise national standards,” said the 70-year-old businessman.
Mahindra also spoke about having broader reforms, including increased support for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), faster infrastructure development, a boost to manufacturing through expanded Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes, and the rationalisation of import duties to improve competitiveness.
“Let the unintended consequences we create be the most intentional and transformative ones of all. We cannot fault others for putting their nations first. But we should be moved to make our own nation greater than ever,” said Mahindra.
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced an additional 25% tariff on India, taking the total US tariffs on India at 50%. In an executive order, Trump said the new US tariffs on India were imposed due to its purchase of oil from Russia. Experts believe this tariff increase will negatively impact India’s outbound trade to the U.S., which is valued at nearly $100 billion. The move is also expected to affect the earnings of many companies that derive a significant portion of their revenue from exports to the US.
In a post, Mahindra said that the ‘law of unintended consequences’ seems to be operating stealthily in the prevailing tariff war unleashed by the U.S.
He gave these two examples:
First, he said that the EU may appear to have accepted the evolving global tariff regime, responding with its own strategic adjustments. Yet the friction has nudged Europe to rethink its security dependence, leading to higher defence spending in France and Germany. In the process, Germany has moderated its fiscal orthodoxy, which may well catalyse a resurgence in Europe’s major economies. The world could gain a new engine for growth.”
Second, he stated that in Canada, long hampered by notorious internal trade barriers between its provinces, steps are now being taken to dismantle them, bringing the country closer to a common market and enhancing economic resilience.
“Both these ‘unintended consequences’ could become long-term positives for global growth. Shouldn’t India too seize this moment to shape a virtuous consequence for itself? Just as the 1991 forex reserves crisis triggered liberalisation, can today’s global ‘Manthan’ over tariffs yield some ‘Amrit’ for us?” said Mahindra.