India is Reforming, Performing & Transforming

India Global Week is an annual event where India meets the World and the World meets India. In 2020, it aims to explore the business, strategic and cultural opportunities, understand the challenges and make informed decisions as we look ahead to a better, brighter future beyond COVID-19. This year, it was none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi who delivered the keynote speech at the prestigious event. Corporate Citizen brings you his riveting session

Greetings from India. I appreciate India Inc. for organising this important event. This present event is a part of the excellent work that India Inc. has done over the past years. Your events have helped bring opportunities in India to a global audience. You have helped make the links between India and the world stronger. I am happy that this year’s event has expanded its reach to other partners as well.

Friends, in this time it is natural to talk about revival. It is equally natural to link global revival with India. There is faith that the story of global revival will see India playing a leading role. I see this closely linked with two factors. The first is Indian talent. The world over, you have seen the contributions of India’s talent force. This includes Indian professionals like bankers, doctors, nurses, lawyers, scientists, professors, and our hard-working labourers. Who can forget the Indian tech industry and tech professionals? They have been showing the way for decades. India is a powerhouse of talent, that is eager to contribute and ever ready to learn. There is a two way synergy that is greatly beneficial. Friends, the factor is India’s ability to reform and rejuvenate. Indians are natural reformers. History has shown that India has overcome every challenge, be it social or economic. India has done so with a spirit of reform and rejuvenation. The same spirit continues now.

Friends, on one hand, India is fighting a strong battle against the global pandemic. With an increased focus on people’s health, we are equally focussed on the health of the economy. When India talks of revival, it is a revival with care, revival with compassion, and revival which is sustainable, both for the environment and the economy. We in India belong to a culture where Mother Nature is worshipped by everyone. It is believed in India that the Earth is our mother and we are her children.

“The world over, you have seen the contributions of India’s talent force. This includes Indian professionals, bankers, doctors, nurses, lawyers, scientists, professors, and labourers”

Friends, during the last six years, India has made great gains in areas such as total financial inclusion, record housing and infrastructure construction, ease of doing business, bold task reforms including GST, the rollout of the world’s largest healthcare initiative ‘Ayushman Bharat’. These gains have set the foundation for the next round of development initiatives. Friends, Indians have the spirit to achieve what is believed to be impossible. No wonder that in India we are already seeing green shoots when it comes to economic recovery. In these times of a pandemic, we have provided relief to our citizens and undertaken deep structural reforms. We are making the economy more productive, investment-friendly and competitive. Our relief package has been smart and targeted to provide the poorest of Indian with the most help. Thanks to technology, every penny has reached the beneficiaries directly. Relief includes providing free cooking gas, cash in the bank accounts, free food grains to millions of people and many other things. As soon as we unlocked, we have launched one of the world’s largest public works programme to provide employment to millions of workers. This will not only re energise the rural economy but also help in creating durable infrastructure in the rural areas. Friends, India remains one of the most open economies in the world. We are laying the red carpet for all the global companies to come and establish their presence in India. Very few countries will offer the kind of opportunities that India does today. There are many possibilities and many opportunities in various sunrise sectors in India. Our reforms in agriculture provide a very active opportunity to invest in storage and logistics. We are opening the door to investors to come and invest directly in the hard work of our farmers. Friends, we have brought in the MSME sector. A booming MSME sector will also complement these industries. There are investment opportunities in the defence sector. With relaxed FDI norms, one of the world’s biggest militaries invites you to come and make products for it. Now, there are more opportunities for private investments in the space sector. This will mean greater access to commercial use of paystack for the benefit of the people.

“I am certain that India will have an important role in developing and scaling up production of the vaccine once it is discovered”

India’s tech and startup sector is vibrant. There is a market of millions of digitally empowered aspirational people. Imagine the kind of products you can make for them. Friends, the pandemic has once again shown that India’s pharmaceutical industry is an asset not just for India, but for the entire world. It has played a leading role in reducing the cost of medicines, especially for developing countries. Vaccines made in India are responsible for 2/3rd of the total vaccine needs for the world’s children. Even today, our companies are active in international efforts in the development and production of Covid-19 vaccines. I am certain that India will have an important role in developing and scaling up production of the vaccine once it is discovered. Friends, 130 crore Indians have given the call for an Aatmanirbhar Bharat A self reliant India. Aatmanirbhar Bharat merges domestic production and consumption with global supply chains. It is not about being self contained or closed to the world. It is about self-sustaining and self generating. We will pursue policies that promote efficiency, equity, and resilience. Friends, I am happy to note that this forum is also marking the 100th birth anniversary of Pandit Ravi Shankar, who took the beauty of Indian classic music to the world. You would also have seen how Namaste has gone global as a form of greeting. The pandemic has also seen the increasing appeal of Yoga, Ayurveda and traditional medicine the world over. India’s ancient culture and India’s universal peaceful ethos is our strength. India is ready to do whatever it can do to further global good and prosperity. This is an India which is reforming, performing and transforming. This is an India which offers new economic opportunities. This is an India that is adopting a human-centric and inclusive approach to development. India awaits you all. Namaste.