India’s Next Global Advantage Is Mobility: Tushar Tayal Takes the Case to G20 YEA

NEW DELHI: India is increasingly becoming a country that the world does business with. The next question, according to entrepreneur Tushar Tayal, is how effectively the country can help its people and businesses participate in an increasingly connected cross-border economy.

Tushar, Founder and CEO of Experience Travelidea Private Limited (Travelidea), has been selected as part of the Indian delegation to the G20 Young Entrepreneurs’ Alliance (G20 YEA) Summit 2026 in Vienna, Austria. The summit will bring together young entrepreneurs to discuss worldwide business, entrepreneurship, trade and cross-border collaboration.

The Country’s growing economic integration gives the conversation added relevance. The country recorded $863.1 billion in total exports in FY2025-26, including a record $421.3 billion in services exports. As domestic businesses expand internationally, Tayal believes the next opportunity lies in making cross-border participation simpler and more efficient.

“India has done an extraordinary job of building worldwide economic capability. Our services, entrepreneurs and businesses are already competing internationally. The next opportunity is to make global mobility an even stronger enabler of that growth,” Tushar said. His perspective comes from working across international travel, visas, corporate movement and cross-border business.

“Whenever someone applies for a visa, there is an economic story behind it. It could be an entrepreneur entering a market, a professional meeting a client, a student gaining international exposure or a business developing a partnership. Mobility is what allows those relationships to become real,” he added.

Tayal believes this is particularly important as the nation’s services economy expands. While technology allows companies to work from almost anywhere, important relationships still require people to meet face-to-face. “The ability to travel efficiently, compliantly and with confidence becomes part of our economic infrastructure,” he said.

Rather than advocating unrestricted movement, Tayal supports a more strategic model based on trusted, efficient and reciprocal travel. His vision includes greater predictability in visa processes and stronger pathways for genuine business travellers, entrepreneurs and established companies.

“I am not arguing for unrestricted movement. Countries have every right to protect their borders. The opportunity is to build smarter mobility systems that distinguish between risk and genuine economic activity,” he said.

The issue is also significant for the nation’s engagement with Asia. Bilateral trade between India and ASEAN reached $128 billion in FY2025-26, with ASEAN accounting for around 11 per cent of the country’s worldwide trade. For Tushar, the Northeast can play an important role in this relationship.

“The Northeast is not India’s last frontier. It can be one of the nation’s gateways to Asia. Our geography places us close to Southeast Asian markets and that creates possibilities across tourism, trade, education, logistics and entrepreneurship,” he said.

His own journey reflects that combination of regional roots and international exposure. He studied at the SP Jain School of Global Management across Singapore, Dubai and Sydney. He has also developed leadership experience through JCI Tezpur Rise East, where he has served as President, and is a JCI Senator and Grand Slam achiever. These experiences have strengthened his belief that international engagement should work in both directions.

“Globalisation should not mean only Indians going abroad. It should also mean more of the world coming to the country — to invest, travel, study, collaborate and build companies. That is the kind of two-way mobility ecosystem I want to contribute towards,” he said.

The Vienna summit will give him an opportunity to take this proposition to an international entrepreneurial network. The programme includes country and industry-oriented B2B sessions, a pitch competition and a communiqué process focused on practical collaboration.

“I am going to Vienna with a very simple objective: represent the country positively, learn from the world’s entrepreneurial ecosystems and build relationships that can eventually create opportunities for domestic businesses,” Tushar stated. For him, the ambition extends beyond Travelidea.

“The country’s global story is already powerful. I want to be part of the generation that makes it even more connected — by helping Indian people and businesses access the world and by helping the world discover India,” he said. As the nation deepens its integration with global markets, he believes overseas mobility will increasingly become part of the country’s broader competitiveness.

The question, he argues, is no longer whether India can participate in the worldwide economy. It is how much further a nation can go when its people, businesses and ideas can move with it.

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