India's Policy Landscape: Opportunities, Challenges, and Evolving Policy Leadership

At the 6th edition of PR & Corp Comm Women Achievers Summit 2025, Sangeeta Dawar Mendiratta, Head of Business Sustainability & Corporate Affairs at Syngenta joined Nidhi Gulati, Director, Communications – India, Springer Nature for a fireside chat on “India's Policy Landscape: Opportunities, Challenges, and Evolving Policy Leadership.” The session explored how India’s policy ecosystem is rapidly evolving, balancing economic growth, sustainability, inclusivity, and implementation at scale.

Opening the conversation, Gulati raised the fundamental question of whether India’s policy landscape is truly changing. Responding to this, Mendiratta said the policy environment is evolving rapidly and pointed out that India’s emergence as the world’s most populous country and one of the fastest-growing economies naturally demands transformation. She highlighted that unlike earlier years, where policy was often viewed largely through a compliance lens, there is now a clear vision, agility, and collaborative nation-building intent.

Speaking about the shift over the last decade, Mendiratta pointed to India’s digital transformation as one of the strongest examples of policy-led impact. Referring to the country’s digital public infrastructure, she noted that 15 billion users are scanning through UPI alone, calling it a massive transition made possible through effective policymaking, extensive consultations with stakeholders, industry forums, and openness within government ecosystems. According to her, the focus today is not just on creating policies, but ensuring their implementation and acceptance at scale.

The conversation then moved towards sustainability and climate ambitions. Gulati highlighted the growing emphasis on green energy mandates, ESG frameworks, and sustainability-linked regulations. Mendiratta responded by underlining India’s net-zero commitments and the country’s ambition to achieve over 500 gigawatts of non-fossil fuel capacity. She emphasised on how climate concerns once discussed theoretically are now visibly impacting industries and communities in real time.

Drawing from her experience in the agriculture sector, she said rising temperatures and low rainfall forecasts are already altering farming conditions and creating long-term concerns for food security and water availability. She specifically pointed to states like Punjab, where groundwater depletion has become a major challenge. Mendiratta stressed that future-focused policies around crop diversification, water-efficient agriculture, precision farming, mechanization, and conservation technologies will be critical to India’s sustainability journey.

Discussing the challenges of policy implementation, Mendiratta acknowledged the complexity of governing a diverse country like India, particularly in sectors such as agriculture where states play a significant role. She mentioned that several long-pending reforms, including PMB and seed bills, have remained under discussion for over 15 years. According to her, one of the biggest requirements going forward is stronger alignment and smoother coordination between the Centre and states to ensure businesses can make long-term investment decisions with confidence.

Moving ahead, Gulati also raised the question of coalition building and how industries, think tanks, and associations are influencing policy conversations today. Mendiratta observed that India is increasingly moving towards a multilateral and collaborative system where large-scale impact requires collective wisdom from corporates, governments, NGOs, and stakeholders across ecosystems. She emphasized that many of today’s policies are driven by national priorities such as food security, economic growth, and societal well-being.

Addressing the fine line between advocacy and lobbying, Mendiratta said trust and transparency remain central to all stakeholder engagements. She explained that multinational companies often rely on evidence-backed pilots and demonstrated outcomes while engaging with governments and institutions. According to her, policy advocacy should not merely be perceived as serving commercial interests but as contributing towards nation-building through skilling, capacity building, and improving rural livelihoods.

The discussion also touched upon emerging frontiers such as AI governance, data localization, and digital regulations. Mendiratta noted that digital transformation and AI are expected to significantly influence policymaking over the next few years. Referring to India’s recent global AI summit, she said technology and AI are already reshaping sectors and will continue to be major change-makers in India’s growth story.

On climate and energy transitions, Mendiratta reiterated that states will ultimately become the vehicles for implementing sustainability goals. She observed that states like Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are progressing differently compared to others because of variations in infrastructure, investment, and ease of doing business. She added that businesses naturally gravitate towards regions where regulations are simpler and implementation is faster.

Towards the end of the session, the conversation moved closer to the communications and corporate affairs profession. Gulati asked about the evolving role of corporate affairs teams in shaping policies and whether the industry is facing a talent gap. Mendiratta described corporate affairs professionals as being positioned at the intersection of business, policy, stakeholder management, sustainability, and digital transformation. She noted that the role today extends far beyond traditional issue management and relationship building.

She emphasized the need for professionals who deeply understand policy, can build trust with stakeholders, and lead conversations with empathy. According to her, the profession today offers immense opportunities because it allows individuals to engage with multiple stakeholders internally and externally while directly contributing to strategic business and policy decisions.

The session concluded with both speakers addressing India's unique position globally. Mendiratta said India’s strength lies in creating localized and customized frameworks suited to its own demographic and geographic realities. With a young talent pool, increasing digitalization, and growing sustainability ambitions, she expressed confidence that India is well-positioned to move towards becoming the world’s third-largest economy, provided there is collective vision and strong policy alignment between the Centre, states, industry, and society.