PremiumListen to this article |
NEW DELHI : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said India was witnessing a kind of digital transformation never before seen in the world stage and that the value of Indian digital economy will reach $1 trillion by 2025.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of BRICS Business Forum held virtually, Modi said the grouping of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa was set up with the belief that this group of emerging economies can evolve as an engine of global growth. Modi said that when the whole world is focusing on post-Covid recovery, the role of BRICS countries will continue to remain very important again.
Highlighting four major developmental trends in India, Modi said India was following the mantra of “reform, perform and transform" to deal with the economic problems arising out of the pandemic. “And the results of this approach are evident from the performance of the Indian economy. This year, we are expecting 7.5% growth, which makes us the fastest growing major economy," Modi said in his speech delivered in Hindi.
The Prime Minister said transformative changes are taking place in the country, pointing to infrastructure development, digital transformation, technology led growth and ease of doing business.
“Today I want to draw your attention on four main aspects. First, a key pillar of India’s current economic recovery is technology-led growth. We are supporting innovation in every sector. We have made innovation-friendly policies in many areas like space, blue economy, green hydrogen, clean energy, drones and geo-spatial data," Modi said.
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, Modi said, adding that there are more than 100 unicorns in over 70,000 start-ups in India, and their number is growing.
Even during the pandemic, India continued to make many efforts to improve the ease of doing business, he said. “Thousands of rules have been changed to reduce the compliance burden on the business. The work is going on at a massive scale to bring in more transparency and consistency in government policies and procedures," the Prime Minister said.
Modi also highlighted the infrastructure building in the country, adding that a master plan has been made. “There are investment opportunities of $1.5 trillion under our National Infrastructure Pipeline," he said.
Modi said that the growth in the digital sector also encouraged the participation of women in the workforce. There are approximately 36 % women out of 4.4 million professionals working in the IT sector in the country, he said.
The maximum benefit from Technology-based financial inclusion has also gone to the women in our rural areas, Modi said.
