NITI Aayog Report Highlights Scope to Strengthen India’s Professional Services Sector

New Delhi, August 15, 2026: NITI Aayog unveiled a fresh study on India’s regulatory landscape for professional services, pointing out ways to boost the sector’s competitiveness, export potential and its role in creating high‑skill jobs.

Key Takeaways

• NITI Aayog released a report on India’s professional-services regulatory landscape, highlighting competitiveness and export potential.
• The study benchmarks India’s regulations against other countries, incorporating industry stakeholder feedback.
• It identifies regulatory obstacles and recommends policy changes to boost sector growth and high-skill job creation.
• NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Ashok Kumar Lahiri released the report on August 10.

Titled “India’s Services Sector: Insights on the Regulatory Regime in Professional Services,” the report was released by NITI Aayog Vice‑Chairman Ashok Kumar Lahiri on August 10 during a session of the High‑Powered Education to Employment and Enterprise Standing Committee. The launch was attended by senior officials, industry leaders, state‑level representatives and subject‑matter experts.

The study benchmarks India’s professional‑services regulations against those of several other countries, incorporating feedback from industry stakeholders. It pinpoints regulatory obstacles and recommends policy tweaks that could spur sector growth.

Professional services now form a key pillar of India’s services economy, contributing close to 25 % of total services exports. The segment comprises high‑value, knowledge‑driven activities that bolster other industries, generate skilled jobs and add to foreign‑exchange inflows and remittances.

The report outlines a four‑point strategy to fortify the sector: leveraging emerging trends and technologies to reshape professional services, expanding their footprint in the wider services value chain, adopting global best practices and fostering ongoing professional development.

NITI Aayog observed that professional services could emerge as a major source of high‑skill employment, entrepreneurship and innovation as India approaches its demographic peak. A streamlined regulatory framework would further bolster services exports, facilitate cross‑border mobility of professionals and improve the ease of doing business.

The document aims to lay the groundwork for upcoming policy debates on the regulatory base of professional services. According to the report, strengthening this segment is vital for constructing a more competitive, future‑ready services economy aligned with India’s Viksit Bharat @2047 goal.