India fastest growing economy in world, says PM Modi

Bengaluru: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said India is moving fast towards becoming the third major economy in the world.

The Prime Minister’s comments come days after US President Donald Trump’s “India a dead economy,” jibe.

In his address after laying the foundation stone for Bangalore Metro Phase-3 project here, worth over Rs 15,610 crore, the prime minister said Operation Sindoor demonstrated the capability to destroy terrorist hideouts deep across the border.

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It showed the strength to bring Pakistan, that defended the terrorists, to its knees within hours and the world witnessed this new face of India. He attributed the operation’s success to the power of technology and the strength of ‘Make in India’ in the defence sector.

The PM also flagged off 3 Vande Bharat Express trains and inaugurated the Metro Rail Yellow line, worth about Rs 7,160 crore.

The launch of projects also triggered a fight for credit with Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah stating that the state has been spending more than the Centre on Bengaluru’s metro network, “even though the project is meant to be jointly funded.”

Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said the Centre “has very little role in the Bengaluru Metro Rail project” as 80 to 90 per cent of the project cost was borne by the state government.

“Centre has fully neglected Karnataka, but to respect Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we requested him to inaugurate the Metro Yellow Line,” Shivakumar said. Karnataka Rural Development Minister Priyank Kharge criticised the BJP for “hijacking” the credit for Yellow Line.

Countering the allegations, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the railway budget for Karnataka has risen from Rs 835 crore before 2014 to Rs 7,500 crore after Narendra Modi became Prime Minister.

In his address, the prime minister, outlining the growth across sectors, said such achievements strengthened the resolve of Aatmanirbhar Bharat. Further, the PM said the next big priority should be becoming self-reliant in technology. Indian tech companies have made a mark globally, developing software and products for the entire world.

Modi said that during the past 11 years, India’s economy has grown from the 10th position to the top 5 globally, and is rapidly progressing towards becoming one of the top three economies. “We are moving fast to become one of the top three economies of the world. How we got this speed? We got it through the spirit of reform, perform and transform,” he said adding the speed was achieved through clear intention and honest efforts.

On infrastructure growth, the Prime Minister said in 2014, metro rail services were confined to just five cities. Today, metro rail networks span over 1,000 kilometers across 24 cities, making India the third-largest metro network globally.

Since independence, till 2014, only 20,000 km rail network had been electrified. During 11 years alone, from 2014 to 2025, it has increased to 40,000 km. Similarly, from 74 airports in 2014, the nation today has more than 160 and likewise, the national waterways has gone up to 30 from only 3. India has also taken a big leap in the education and health sectors and today, there are more opportunities available for students in the higher education sector. As the nation progresses rapidly, the lives of the poor and marginalised are transforming at the same pace.

“Before 2014 the total export was USD 468 billion but today it is USD 824 billion. We used to import mobile phones but now we are the top five exporters of mobile handsets. Our electronic export before 2014 was USD 6 billion which has gone up to USD 38 billion dollars,” Modi said. India’s automobile export before 2014 was USD 16 billion dollar and now it is more than double, making India the fourth major automobile exporter globally.

“These achievements give strength to our concept of Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India). We will march together, and build a developed India.”

Batting for focused efforts to lead in emerging fields, he stressed the need to strengthen Bengaluru and Karnataka’s presence in ‘Make in India’ and the manufacturing sector. He urged that India’s products must adhere to the ‘Zero Defect, Zero Effect’ standard, meaning they should be flawless in quality and have no negative impact on the environment.

The ‘Vikasit Bharat’ journey would progress alongside the Digital India initiative. By way of initiatives like the India AI Mission, India is advancing towards global AI leadership. “India is moving to assume the role of global leadership in the domain of Artificial Intelligence. Semiconductor mission is also gaining pace. India will soon get Made in India chip,” he said.

As regards space missions, he said India has become an example of “low-cost hi-tech space missions”, which means that India is moving ahead in areas of futuristic technologies.

The specialty of such advancement is empowerment of poor and digitisation has reached every village. Through UPI, India accounts for over 50 per cent of the world’s real-time transactions, he underlined.

Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Union Ministers Manohar Lal, H D Kumaraswamy, Ashwini Vaishnaw, V Somanna, Shobha Karandlaje were present.

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