Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday urged young entrepreneurs to shed hesitation to taking risks and told them that technology and India’s improving business ecosystem has created opportunities for businesses to scale globally.“Build boldly, build responsibly, build for India, build for the world and build for generations to come,” the Finance Minister said, while speaking at YiFi 2026, a flagship national entrepreneurship summit of CII’s Young Indians (Yi), held in Madurai this year.“The boundaries that remain are often those we impose on ourselves. It is our own hesitation which is the boundary. Entrepreneurship beyond boundaries is entrepreneurship beyond your own hesitation,” she said, adding that fear of failure could no longer be justified in the current environment.Highlighting India’s economic position, Sitharaman said India remained the world’s fastest-growing major economy despite geopolitical disruptions, including conflicts in Ukraine and West Asia, supply-chain challenges and commodity price volatility. She said India was projected to contribute one-sixth of global growth in the coming years but argued that the youth must help take this share larger.The theme of the YiFi summit this year was “Entrepreneurship Beyond Boundaries.” The two-day YiFi summit played host to sessions on Building Billion-Dollar Businesses, Building startups and AI, and on Scaling with Purpose, among other topics.Speaking at the session, P Ravichandran, Chairman, CII Southern Region & President, Danfoss India, said that the Government and the Finance minister had helped keep houses and farms safe by safeguarding 3 F’s -fuel, feritilisers and foreign exchange- during the ongoing West Asia crisis. “Despite all crisis, India remains fastest growing major economy in the world,” he added.Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII, said that CII and Yi are working together to create platforms that connect young people with policymakers and industry, fostering greater collaboration and participation in nation-building.Arun Rathod, National Chairman, CII’s Young Indians (Yi), said the forum aims to empower young leaders to innovate and collaborate to create value for India. YII has 72 chapters, 8,000 direct members who are all under 45 years of age, and it has conducted 5,000 activities since January 2026, he noted.The finance minister also drew attention to Madurai’s entrepreneurial spirit, which she said, was rooted in over 2,500 years of recorded history.Known as ‘Thoonga Nagaram’ (the city that never sleeps) and ‘Koodal Nagaram’ (the place where ideas converge), it has long been a cradle of learning, commerce and innovation, she said. It has nurtured both Tamil Sangams and at the same time has pioneered merchant guilds and contributed to global trade, she added. “This legacy of enterprise, finance and adaptability is an inspiration for the new generation of entrepreneurs.”The summit is expected to serve as a catalyst for entrepreneurial growth by enabling participants to explore innovative financial solutions, understand emerging market trends, strengthen governance practices and discover new avenues for business expansion.Published on July 18, 2026