The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi addressed the Kautilya Economic Conclave in New Delhi today. Organized by The Institute of Economic Growth in partnership with the Ministry of Finance, the Kautilya Economic Conclave will focus on themes such as financing the green transition, geo-economic fragmentation and the implications for growth, and principles for policy action to preserve resilience among others.

Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister expressed gratitude for being present in the third edition of the Kautilya Economic Enclave. He underlined that the conclave will hold multiple sessions for the next three days where various issues related to the economy are going to be discussed. Shri Modi expressed confidence that these discussions will prove helpful in accelerating India’s growth.

Noting that the conclave is being organized at a time when two major regions of the world are engaged in a war, the Prime Minister pointed out the importance of the regions for the global economy, especially in terms of energy security. “Amidst such a huge global uncertainty, we are here discussing the Indian Era”, the Prime Minister remarked, highlighting the increase in trust towards India and its self-confidence today.

“India is the fastest growing major economy in the world today”, exclaimed the Prime Minister. He added that currently India is the fifth largest economy in terms of GDP. Shri Modi highlighted that today, India is number one in terms of global FinTech adoption rate as well as in terms of smartphone data consumption. He said India is number two in the world in terms of internet users while nearly half of the world’s real-time digital transactions are happening in India. Shri Modi highlighted that at present India has the world’s third largest start-up ecosystem and also ranked number four in terms of renewable energy capacity. Speaking on manufacturing, the Prime Minister pointed out that India is the world’s second largest mobile manufacturer, the largest manufacturer of two-wheelers and tractors. “India is the youngest country in the world”, emphasized Shri Modi. He emphasized that India has the third largest pool of scientists and technicians in the world and be it science, technology or innovation, India is clearly present at a sweet spot.

“Government is following the mantra of Reform, Perform and Transform and continuously taking decisions to move the country forward”, the Prime Minister said as he credited its impact for the reelection of a government for the third consecutive time after 60 years. He said that people get the confidence of the country moving on the right path when their lives are transformed for good. This feeling, the Prime Minister said, is visible in the mandate of the people of India and the confidence of 140 crore countrymen is a huge asset of this government. The Prime Minister underlined the Government’s commitment to carrying out structural reforms to make India developed and highlighted the work done in the first three months of the third term. He gave examples of bold policy changes, strong commitment towards jobs and skills, focus on sustainable growth and innovation, modern infrastructure, quality of life and continuity of fast growth. “This is a reflection of our policies of the first three months”, the Prime Minister said, informing that decisions worth more than Rs 15 trillion or 15 lakh crore rupees have been taken during this period. He further added that work has started on many mega infrastructure projects in India including the creation of 12 industrial nodes in the country and the approval for construction of 3 crore new houses.

Shri Modi emphasized that the inclusive spirit of India, was another notable factor in India’s growth story. While it was earlier believed that inequality increases with growth, however the opposite, that is, inclusion is increasing along with growth in India, he added. Consequently, 25 crore or 250 million people have moved out of poverty in the last decade, the Prime Minister highlighted. He said along with India’s rapid progress, the Government was also ensuring that there is reduction in inequality and the benefits of development reach everyone.

Highlighting the predictions related to India’s growth today, the Prime Minister said that their confidence points to the direction in which India is headed and it can also be supplemented by the data of the last few weeks and months. Underlining that India’s economy performed better than every prediction last year, the Prime Minister said all institutions, be it the World Bank, IMF or Moody’s, have upgraded their forecasts related to India. “All these institutions are saying that despite global uncertainty, India will continue to grow at a rate of seven plus. However, we Indians have full confidence that India will perform even better than this”, Shri Modi added.

Underlining that there were some solid reasons behind this confidence of India, the Prime Minister remarked that be it manufacturing or service sector, today the world is considering India as a preferred place for investment. He added that this was not a coincidence, but a result of major reforms done in the last 10 years, which have transformed the macroeconomic fundamentals of India. Mentioning an instance of the reforms, Shri Modi said that India’s banking reforms have not only strengthened the financial conditions of banks, but also increased their lending capacity. He added that similarly, Goods and Service Tax (GST) had integrated various central and state indirect taxes while Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) had developed a new credit culture of responsibility, recovery and resolution. Further elaborating on the reforms, Shri Modi highlighted that India had opened many sectors like mining, defense, space for private players and young entrepreneurs of India. He added that the Government had liberalized the FDI policy to ensure creation of ample opportunities for global investors. The Prime Minister also informed that the Government was focusing on modern infrastructure to reduce the logistics cost and time. He added that there was an unprecedented increase in investments in infrastructure in the last decade.

“India has made ‘process reforms’ a part of the government’s continuous activities”, the Prime Minister said, informing that the government has eliminated more than 40,000 compliances and decriminalized the Companies Act. He gave examples of reforming dozens of provisions that made it difficult for business and the creation of a national single window system to ease the clearance process for starting and closing a company. He also stressed on encouraging state governments to speed up ‘process reforms’ at the state level.

The Prime Minister highlighted the impact of Production Linked Incentives to accelerate manufacturing in India in many sectors today. Throwing light on its impact in the last 3 years, the Prime Minister informed about an investment of about Rs 1.25 trillion or Rs 1.25 lakh crore leading to production and sales of about Rs 11 trillion or Rs 11 lakh crore. Noting that India’s space and defence sectors have been recently opened up, the Prime Minister highlighted their spectacular growth and informed that more than 200 start-ups have come up in the space sector while 20 percent of India’s total defence manufacturing contribution now comes from private defence companies.

Touching upon the growth story of the electronics sector, the Prime Minister pointed out that India was a big importer of most mobile phones till 10 years ago while more than 33 crore mobile phones are being manufactured in the country today. He stressed that all sectors in India have excellent opportunities for investors to earn high returns on their investments.

Discussing India’s focus on critical technologies like AI and semiconductors currently, Shri Modi stressed that there was huge investment by the Government in both sectors. He informed that India’s AI mission would increase both research and skills in the field of AI. Speaking of the India Semiconductor Mission, Shri Modi pointed out that an investment of Rs 1.5 trillion or one and a half lakh crore rupees was being made and very soon, India’s 5 semiconductor plants would start delivering Made in India chips to every corner of the world.

Prime Minister Modi emphasized India’s emergence as the world’s largest source of affordable intellectual power. He highlighted that over 1,700 Global Capability Centres are currently operating in India and employing more than 2 million highly skilled Indian professionals. Shri Modi stressed the importance of harnessing India’s demographic dividend through a strong focus on education, innovation, skills, and research. He highlighted the key reforms brought about by the New National Education Policy and informed that a new university has been established every week and two new colleges have opened every day over the last decade. He further added that the number of medical colleges in our country has doubled in the last 10 years.

The Prime Minister underlined that the Government is not only increasing the quantity of educational institutions but are also raising the bar for quality. He said that the number of Indian institutions in the QS World University Rankings have tripled over this period, reflecting the country’s growing emphasis on academic excellence. He also touched upon a special package for skilling and internship for crores of youth in this year’s budget. Speaking about the PM Internship Scheme, the Prime Minister explained that one crore young Indians will be given the opportunity to gain real-world experience in major companies. He further added that 111 companies registered to participate on the first day of the scheme thereby showcasing the enthusiastic response of the industry.

Touching upon India’s research ecosystem, Shri Modi highlighted that research output and patents had grown rapidly in the last decade. The Prime Minister noted that in less than a decade, India’s ranking in the Global Innovation Index Rankings had moved from Eighty First to Thirty Ninth position. Stressing that India had to tread forward from here, Shri Modi highlighted that a research fund of Rs One Trillion was created to strengthen India’s research ecosystem.

“Today, the world looks to India with great expectations when it comes to green jobs and a sustainable future,” the Prime Minister remarked, highlighting the vast opportunities it presents. Referring to the success of India’s G20 Presidency, Prime Minister Modi mentioned the new momentum for green transition that emerged from the summit and proudly announced India’s initiative in launching the Global Biofuel Alliance during the Summit receiving wide support from member nations. He also highlighted India’s ambitious target of producing 5 million tons of green hydrogen by the end of this decade. Prime Minister Modi underlined India’s commitment to expanding solar power production at the micro level and mentioned PM SuryaGhar Free Electricity Scheme, a rooftop solar initiative funded by the government that has already registered over 13 million or 1 crore 30 lakh families. “This scheme is not just large in scale, but revolutionary in its approach, turning every family into a solar energy producer”, he said. The Prime Minister further explained that on average, families are expected to save Rs 25,000 annually, while also helping to prevent the emission of 50-60 tons of carbon dioxide for every three kilowatts of solar power produced. The Prime Minister stated that this scheme will create a large army of skilled youth where around 17 lakh jobs will be created giving way to new investment opportunities.

The Prime Minister underlined that the Indian economy is going through huge transformational change and is on the path of sustained high growth based on strong economic fundamentals. “Today, India is not only preparing to reach the top, but is also working hard to remain there”, PM Modi said, expressing confidence that many valuable inputs will come from the ongoing discussions. He stressed that the inputs received in such discussions, especially the do’s and don’ts, are religiously followed in the government systems and made part of the policy and the governance. The Prime Minister concluded his address by highlighting the importance, expertise and experience of the industry leaders and thanked them for their contributions. Shri Modi also thanked Shri N K Singh, President of Institute of Economic Growth, and his entire team for their efforts.

Union Minister of Finance, Smt Nirmala Sitharaman and President of Institute of Economic Growth, Shri N K Singh were present on the occasion among others

Background

The third edition of the Kautilya Economic Conclave is being held from the 4th to the 6th of October. Some of the most important issues confronting the Indian economy and economies of the Global South will be discussed by both Indian and international scholars and policymakers. The conclave will witness the participation of speakers from across the world.