Govt aims to transform India through access, inclusion, empowerment: PM

Asserting that the self reliant India programme will help revive the global economy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday told global business community that his government aims to transform the country through access, inclusion and empowerment while also ensuring complete data security.

Addressing the World Economic Forum's online Davos Agenda Summit, where he also interacted with global business leaders, Modi also said India offers a predictable and friendly environment from tax regime to FDI norms.

He said Aatmanirbhar Bharat movement is committed to global good and global supply chain while the country's digital profile has been completely transformed.

India is focussing on sustainable urbanisation with focus on ease of living, ease of doing business and climate sensitive development, he said.

He also talked about evacuation of citizens when air space was closed and supply of medicines to more than 150 countries.

"Today, India is helping countries with online training, knowledge of traditional knowledge, vaccines and vaccine infrastructure," he said.

He said that India has maintained economic activity by starting infrastructure projects worth billions of rupees and initiating special schemes for employment.

We are focused on saving lives and we are also focussing on boosting the economy. India's ambition of self-reliance will strengthen globalism anew and will help in Industry 4.0, Modi said.

The prime minister asserted that India is working on all the four factors of Industry 4.0 -- connectivity, automation, artificial intelligence or machine learning and real-time data.

India is among the countries where data charges are the cheapest and mobile connectivity and smart phones have reached far and wide while India's automation design expert pool is vast and the country has made a mark in the field of AI and machine learning, the prime minister said.

"Growing digital infrastructure has made digital solutions everyday part of life in India.

“Today 1.3 billion Indians have universal ID - Aadhaar which is connected to their account and phone. In December itself, there has been Rs 4 trillion worth of transaction through UPI," he said.

Modi said India could transfer Rs 1.8 lakh crore worth of assistance through direct benefit transfer to the accounts of 76 crore Indians during the pandemic.

"Digital infrastructure has made public service delivery efficient and transparent.  India has started a campaign for providing easy access to health care by giving Unique Health ID to its citizens," he added.

Modi said the global business community should be rest assured that India's Aatmanirbhar Bharat movement is committed to global good and global supply chain as India has capacity, capability and reliability to strengthen global supply chain.

"Its massive consumer base will further grow and help global economy. India, along with possibilities, is filled with confidence and drive as there have been continued emphasis on reforms and incentive-based stimulus.

"Structural reforms during corona times have been supported by production linked incentives. India offer ease of doing business as there is a predictable and friendly environment from tax regime to FDI norms," he said.

And to top it all, India is matching its growth with the goals of climate change, Modi said.

He also cautioned that technology should become a tool of ease of living and not a trap and all should keep this in mind as corona crisis has reminded us of value of humanity.

During the question-answer session, the prime minister told Siemens CEO Joe Kaeser that making India a manufacturing and export hub is a big part of the government's vision.

He also invited the global players to take advantage of the $26 billion-Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme.

In a reply to ABB CEO Bjorn Rosengren, Modi listed out the ongoing infrastructure projects in the country and informed that under National Infrastructure pipeline, projects worth $1.5 trillion will be implemented in the country in the next five years.

To Mastercard's Ajay S Banga, Modi explained the massive financial inclusion that has taken place in the country in recent times and steps taken to strengthen the MSME sector.

In a reply to an observation from Arvind Krishna of IBM, the prime minister emphasised the depth of digital India.

Modi said that the country's digital profile has been completely transformed.

The government's vision is to transform the country through access, inclusion and empowerment while ensuring the privacy of the user.

To Nobuhiro Endo, chairman of the Board, NEC Corporation, Modi explained India's approach towards the opportunities created by urbanisation.

"India is focussing on sustainable urbanisation with focus on ease of living, ease of doing business and climate sensitive development.

“This commitment has led to investment of $ 150 billion... in urban India during 2014 to 2020," Modi said.

Photograph: Kind courtesy, PIB