During a virtual address at the opening ceremony of the BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) Business Forum, Modi said there are investment opportunities worth USD 1.5 trillion under the country’s national infrastructure pipeline.
Highlighting the growth of India’s digital economy, he said that its value will reach one trillion US dollars by 2025 and the government is supporting innovation in every field.
He said that the kind of digital transformation that is taking place in India today has never been seen before in the world.
“To tackle the economic problems arising out of the pandemic, we have adopted the mantra of “Reform, Perform and Transform” in India. And the results of this approach are evident from the performance of the Indian economy,” he said.
“This year, we are expecting a growth of 7.5 per cent, which makes us the fastest growing major economy. Transformational changes are taking place in every sector in the emerging ‘New India’,” Modi said.
He said a key pillar of India’s current economic recovery is technology-led development and the government has made innovation-friendly policies in several areas such as space, blue economy, green hydrogen, clean energy, drones and geospatial data.
“Today, India has one of the best eco-systems in the world for innovation, which is reflected in the growing number of Indian start-ups. India has over 100 unicorns among over 70,000 start-ups, and their The numbers continue to grow,” he said.
“Second, even during the pandemic, India continued to make several efforts to improve ease of doing business. Thousands of rules have been changed to reduce the compliance burden on business,” Modi said.
While work is underway “on a large scale” to bring in more transparency and consistency in government policies, infrastructure connectivity in India is also being reformed in a big way, he said.
Modi said, “India has prepared a national master plan. There are investment opportunities worth US$ 1.5 trillion under our national infrastructure pipeline. The value of the Indian digital economy will reach $1 trillion by 2025.”
He said that the development of the digital sector has also encouraged the participation of women in the workforce.
“Of the 4.4 million professionals working in our IT sector, about 36 per cent are women. Women in our rural areas have also benefited the most from technology-based financial inclusion,” she said.
Modi said the BRICS Women’s Business Alliance can study this transformative change in India.
“Similarly, we can have a fruitful conversation on innovation-led economic recovery. I suggest that the BRICS Business Forum may develop a platform for regular exchanges between our startups,” he added.
BRICS is a multilateral forum consisting of five major emerging economies of the world, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
BRICS brings together the five largest developing countries in the world, representing 41 percent of the global population, 24 percent of global GDP and 16 percent of global trade.
Modi will join Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the virtual annual summit of the Group of Five countries. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa are also set to attend the summit.
“At the invitation of President Xi Jinping, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate in the 14th BRICS summit hosted by China in virtual format on June 23 and 24. This includes a high-level dialogue on global development with guest countries on June 24. ” The Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
Discussions during the 14th BRICS summit are expected to include intra-BRICS cooperation in areas such as counter-terrorism, trade, health, traditional medicine, environment, science and technology and innovation, agriculture, technical and vocational education and training, and MSMEs, The Ministry of External Affairs said in an official statement.
The summit will host a high-level dialogue on global development with guest countries on June 24. BRICS has become a forum for all developing countries to discuss and deliberate on issues of common concern. BRICS countries have regularly called for reform of the multilateral system to make it more representative and inclusive.
Issues such as reforming the multilateral system, combating the COVID-19 pandemic and global economic recovery are also likely to be discussed. The summit will be held in virtual format under the theme of “Promoting High Quality BRICS Partnership, Usher in a New Era for Global Development”.
(with inputs from agencies)