“ India will be growth engine of the world”: PM Modi at BRICS

JOHANNESBURG: Highlighting the economic reforms and the technological leap undertaken by India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that India will emerge as the growth engine of the world in the coming years.

Speaking at BRICS Business Forum in South Africa, PM further said that the people of India have resolved to turn India into a developed nation by 2047.

Meanwhile, he congratulated the BRICS Business Council on its tenth anniversary and said that BRICS Business Council has played a very vital role in enhancing our economic cooperation.

“Many many congratulations and best wishes to the BRICS Business Council on its tenth anniversary. In the last ten years, the BRICS Business Council has played a very vital role in enhancing our economic cooperation. When the first BRICS summit was held in 2009, the world was coming out of a massive financial crisis. At that time BRICS emerged as a ray of hope for the global economy,” he said. 

“In the present time also amongst the COVID pandemic tensions and disputes the world is dealing with e-economic challenges. In such times once again the role of BRICS countries is important,” he said.

In his address at the BRICS Business Forum Leaders’ Dialogue in Johannesburg, he said that India will soon be a 5 trillion dollar economy and in the coming years will be the growth engine of the world.

“Despite the turmoil in the global economy, India today is the fastest-growing major economy in the world. Very soon India will become a five trillion dollar economy. There is absolutely no doubt that in the coming years, India will be the growth engine of the world and the reason for this is that India has converted crisis and difficulties into opportunities for economic improvements. The people of India have resolve to become a developed nation by 2047,” PM Modi,” PM Modi said.

Prime Minister further said that “In the last few years we have carried out reforms and mission modes and these factors have helped continuously improve doing business in India. We have also reduced the compliance burden and removed red tape. There has been a boost in investor confidence due to the introduction of GST and the implementation of insolvency. We have focused on public service delivery and good governance.”

He further mentioned that more than 360 billion dollars in transfers have been made by direct benefit transfer.

“Today in one click millions of people in India get direct benefit transfers. This has increased transparency in service delivery, reduced corruption and middlemen. India is among the most economical countries in terms of cost per gigabyte of data. Today in India UPI is used at all levels from street vendors to large shopping malls. Today among all countries in the world, India is the country with the highest digital transaction. Countries like UAE, Singapore, and France are joining this platform. There are many possibilities of working on this with BRICS countries as well,” he added.

Meanwhile, the scenario of the country is changing due to large-scale investment in India’s infrastructure.

“In this year’s budget, we have kept a provision of about USD 120 billion for infrastructure. By way of this investment, we are laying a strong foundation for a new India of the future. Rapid changes are coming into effect in all areas of rail, water, infrastructure and airways,” the PM added.

He further said that today, new highways are being constructed in India at a speed of ten thousand kilometres per year. The number of airports has doubled in the last nine years.

Moreover, to promote investment and production, we have implemented a Production Linked Incentives scheme.

“India’s manufacturing sector is becoming competitive due to reduction in logistics cost. India is one of the world leaders in the field of Renewable Energy. We are making active steps to make India a global manufacturing hub in areas like solar energy, wind energy, electric vehicles, green hydrogen, green ammonia,” he said.

Naturally, this will create a big market for renewable technology in India. Today India has the third-largest start-up ecosystem in the world. There are currently more than a hundred unicorns in India, he said.

Emphasizing the vision of “Make in India, Make for the World” he said that in sectors like IT, Telecom, FinTech, AI and semiconductors we are moving forward.

“All these efforts have had a direct positive impact on the lives of common people. The income of the people has increased almost three times in the last nine years,” he said at Business Forum.

Highlighting the role of women in all sectors, the PM said that there has been a strong participation of women in the economic development of India.

“From IT to Space, from banking to healthcare women are contributing to the progress of the country shoulder to shoulder with men,” he added.

PM Modi further invited all the countries to be part of India’s development journey.

Despite the attendance of South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa, Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jingping was notably absent from the event.

Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov was present at the event.

Soon after the Business Forum, Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived at the Summer Place in Johannesburg to participate in the BRICS Leaders Retreat where the leaders of the grouping will deliberate on global developments and explore how to utilize the BRICS platform effectively to address and resolve global challenges.

PM Modi was welcomed by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are attending the BRICS Leaders Retreat.

PM Modi arrived in South Africa earlier on Tuesday to attend the 15th BRICS Summit in Johannesburg from August 22-24 at the invitation of the country’s president Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa.

This will be PM Modi’s third visit to South Africa and the trip marks the 30th anniversary of the diplomatic relationship between India and South Africa.

This year’s BRICS is under the presidency of South Africa. The theme of this year’s summit is: “BRICS and Africa: Partnership for mutually accelerated growth, sustainable development and inclusive multilateralism.”