Just days before the G20 Leaders’ Summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke about the opportunity India has at G20 to help address areas of global concern, how the country’s digital public infrastructure has become the toast of the world, India as a potential manufacturing hub, and much more in an exclusive interaction with Business Today Editors Rahul Kanwal, Sourav Majumdar and Siddharth Zarabi
When asked about if he expects the economy to do better than anticipated in FY24 given that most macroeconomic indicators remain robust and point towards revived demand, Prime Minister Modi told BT, "The experience of the last few years suggests that India has performed better than predicted. This is our track record."
"Today, we are growing faster than most countries and our people deserve credit for it. Now, when we aspire to grow even faster, our people have a big responsibility... This will happen through the mantras of Vocal for Local, Aatmanirbhar Bharat, Zero Defect & Zero Effect in manufacturing, Zero Import, Maximum Export in Agriculture, and Self-Sufficiency in energy needs. As our citizens are putting these principles into action, we are also moving closer to our goals," said PM Modi
PM Modi emphasised that global manufacturers are coming to India and an era of unprecedented job creation is unfolding. "Around 10 years back, India was being counted among the Fragile 5 countries. India was seen as a country which was not living up to its full potential. In 10 years, India has moved from the 10th largest economy of the world to 5th largest economy of the world. In 10 years, India is now seen as a country with immense potential which is backed by impressive performance," the PM told Business Today
PM Modi told BT that Gross fixed capital formation in India as percentage of GDP is at 34%, the highest since 2013-14. Credit growth in 2022-23 surged to almost 15%, the strongest in almost a decade. These indicators point to the beginning of a new private capex cycle. "In the last nine years, FDI inflows have doubled, forex reserves have doubled, central government capex has increased more than five times, bank balance sheets have been repaired and they are profit making. I am quite positive that India’s economy will continue performing well and deliver unprecedented opportunities and prosperity for our people," said PM Modi
When asked about the execution of the Make in India programme and what more needs to be done for India to benefit from the China+1 pivot in global supply chains, PM Modi told Business Today that the world is today recognising India’s strength. “They are coming here because it is good for their company, their product and their profits… The efforts we are making since 2014 should have been made 40-45 years ago. At that time, the country knew which were the right things to do, but the decision makers took the wrong decisions," said PM Modi
"We have been focussing on increasing manufacturing and improving ease of doing business since 2014. Through focus on world-class infrastructure, skill development of our workforce, supportive policies, and attractive fiscal incentives, we are transforming our manufacturing sector. The growth of Apple’s manufacturing footprint in India, the decision of Micron to set up semiconductor assembly in India, all show the increasing attractiveness of India as a manufacturing destination," PM Modi told Business Today
"Building up scale and volume is critical to being able to turn India to a competitive alternative global production hub. That is where attracting investments and creation of manufacturing capacities is essential for the development of the supply chain. Our PLI schemes are designed to incentivise companies to increase their manufacturing capacities and local value addition year on year," PM Modi told Business Today Editors Rahul Kanwal, Sourav Majumdar and Siddharth Zarabi
Talking about the start-up ecosystem, PM said, "Today, India has around a hundred thousand start-ups and 100 unicorns. A lot of experts see India as the hub of start-ups. When this is our basic governance philosophy, it is natural that we want to take this momentum globally. Building on our success and recognising the importance of start-ups globally, India, during its G20 leadership, made a significant move by establishing the Startup20 Engagement Group.”
According to PM Modi, Startup20 Engagement Group is the first of its kind initiative under the G20. The PM told BT, "This grouping is acting as the voice of the global start-up ecosystem bringing together varied stakeholders on a common platform. It aspires to create a global narrative for supporting start-ups and enabling synergies between start-ups, corporates, investors, innovation agencies and other key ecosystem stakeholders.”