Prime Minister Narendra Modi today declared that the Indian economy was once again gaining momentum after Covid-19 and emphasised the need to consider ways to reduce dependence on other countries by exploring different models of financing developmental projects.
”The Indian economy is once again picking up after the once-in-a-century pandemic and this is a reflection of our economic decisions and strong foundations of the economy,” he said, addressing a post-Budget webinar on ‘Financing for Growth & Aspirational Economy. This is the 10th such post-Budget webinar addressed by the PM.
Modi said the government has taken many steps to maintain the momentum of high growth in this Budget. “By encouraging foreign capital flows, reducing tax on infrastructure investment, creating institutions like NIIF, Gift City, and new DFIs, we have tried to accelerate financial and economic growth,” he said.
“The country’s commitment to the widespread use of digital technology in finance is now reaching the next level. Be it 75 Digital Banking Units or Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDCs) in 75 districts, they reflect our vision”, he added.
Talking about balanced development of the country, the PM reiterated the priority of schemes such as the Aspirational Districts Programme or the development of Eastern India and the North-east.
He stressed the link between India’s aspirations and the strength of MSMEs. “We have done many fundamental reforms and made new schemes to strengthen MSMEs. The success of these reforms is dependent on strengthening their financing”, he said.
The PM talked at length about the vision of finding sectors where India could figure in the top three countries. He asked whether India could emerge among the top three countries in sectors like constructions, startups, recently opened up sectors like drones, space and geo-spatial data. For this, he said, it was imperative that the industry and startups got full support of the financial sector.
Noting that a big base of the Indian economy was rural, he said the government was taking steps like strengthening Kisan Credit Cards, Farmer Producer Organisations and Common Service Centers. He asked the gathering to keep the rural economy at the centre of their policies.
He said India’s aspirations were also linked with natural farming and organic farming. “If someone is coming forward to do new work in them, it is necessary to think about how our financial institutions can help him”, he added.
Referring to the work and investment in the health sector, the PM emphasised that in order to tackle the challenges relating to medical education, it was critical to have more and more medical institutions. “Can our financial institutions and banks prioritise this in their business planning”, he wondered.
Touching upon the environmental and ecological dimension of the Budget, he reiterated India’s goal of net-zero by 2070 and said that the work in this direction has already started.