Supply Chains to State Capacity: Building the Next Manufacturing Hubs

In this episode CID Voices Road to GEM26 podcast, Harvard Kennedy School student Stuti Goyal speaks with Vishnu Venugopalan, an Indian Administrative Service officer and Practitioner in Residence at the Harvard Center for International Development. Anchored in CID’s research theme of Trade, Growth, and Regional Economics, the conversation explores how countries position themselves within shifting global supply chains. Drawing on his experience leading investment promotion in Tamil Nadu, Venugopalan reflects on the practical realities of industrial policy — from attracting private firms and investment to building the institutional capacity required to sustain manufacturing ecosystems. The discussion moves beyond strategy to implementation: how governments identify binding constraints, coordinate public goods, and translate global ambitions into local economic opportunity. Venugopalan also reflects on workforce development in an era of automation and on his experience deploying digital tools to reduce maternal mortality in Tamil Nadu’s public health system. What does it take for countries to move up global value chains? And how can governments design policies that turn industrial growth into inclusive development?