New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the inaugural session of ‘Journey Towards Viksit Bharat: A Post Union Budget 2024-25 Conference’ organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi today.
The conference aims to present the outline for the Government’s larger vision for growth and the industry’s role. More than 1000 participants from industry, government, the diplomatic community and think tanks among others attended the conference in person while many connected from the various CII centres across the country and overseas.
Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister said that the nation can never fall back when its citizens have achieved stability in every aspect of life and are filled with enthusiasm. He expressed gratitude towards the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for inviting him to address the occasion.
Referring to the discussions during the pandemic with the business community regarding apprehensions about the growth, the Prime Minister remembered the optimism that he expressed at the time and mentioned the rapid growth that the country is witnessing today. “Today we are discussing – Journey towards Viksit Bharat. This is not just the change of sentiment, this reflects a change in confidence”, he said, reiterating India’s position as 5th largest economy in the world and rapid strides towards the 3rd place.
The Prime Minister recalled the time when the present government was elected to power in 2014 and highlighted the need of the hour to bring the economy back on track. He pointed out the pre-2014 era when the nation belonged to the list of fragile five economies and was marred by corruption and scams worth lakhs of crores rupees.
Without delving into the specifics of the economic conditions outlined by the government in a white paper, the Prime Minister encouraged industry leaders and organizations to review the document and compare it to past economic situations. He emphasized that the current government has elevated India’s economy to new heights and rescued it from dire straits.
Putting forth some facts from the recently presented Budget, the Prime Minister compared the current Budget of Rs 48 Lakh Crore with the Rs 16 Lakh Crore Budget of 2013-14, an increase of three times. Capital Expenditure, the biggest measure of resource investment was 90 thousand crore rupees in 2004, which was taken to 2 lakh crore in the 10 years up to 2014, a 2 times increase. In comparison, this important indicator has reached beyond Rs 11 Lakh crore today a more than 5 times increase.
Reiterating that his government is determined to look after every sector of the Indian economy, the Prime Minister said, “If you will look at different sectors, you will get an idea as to how India is focussing on each one of them.” Drawing a comparison with the previous government, Shri Modi said in the last 10 years, the budgets of railways and highways have seen an increase of 8 times. Meanwhile, the agricultural and defence budgets have witnessed a jump of more than 4 and 2 times, respectively.