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New focus of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ is ‘make for world’ : PM Modi in Independence Day speech

Hindustan Times, New Delhi | ByRajeev Jayaswal | Edited by: Amit Chaturvedi
Aug 15, 2020 02:47 PM IST

He said Independent India should be “vocal for local” and asked citizens to glorify Indian products to promote ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ (self-reliant India).

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said major global firms are looking at India as a major investment destination, which is reflected by a robust inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) last financial year, and through ‘Atmnirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’ (self-reliant India initiative) the country is shifting its focus from ‘Make in India’ to ‘Make for world’.

PM Modi said that in order to rapidly modernise India, there is a need to give a new direction to overall infrastructure development.(PTI Photo)
PM Modi said that in order to rapidly modernise India, there is a need to give a new direction to overall infrastructure development.(PTI Photo)

Addressing the nation on the country’s 74th Independence Day, the prime minister said that the country has made a series of economic reforms, such as ‘one nation one tax’, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) and the bank merger, which have caught attention of the global investors. As a result, he said, India attracted huge amount of foreign direct investment (FDI) last year. According to the latest FDI data issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), overall FDI flow in India in 2019-20 was about $74.4 billion in 2019-20, a 20% jump over the same period last year.

He said Independent India should be “vocal for local” and asked citizens to glorify Indian products to promote ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’. He gave the example of N-95 masks, personal protective equipments (PPEs) and ventilators - how Indian entrepreneurs came up at the time of global Covid-19 urgency and not only met the domestic demand but also exported them to the world.

He said that the country is striving to achieve overall economic growth and become self-reliant, but humanity remains its ethos. “India has always believed that the entire world is one family. While we focus on economic growth and development, humanity must retain a central role in this process and our journey,” he said.

Unveiling his vision of a self-reliant India, the Prime Minister said that the government has unveiled over Rs 110 lakh crore National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) to boost the economy and create jobs. “In order to rapidly modernise India, there is a need to give a new direction to overall infrastructure development,” he said, adding that over 7,000 projects under NIP have been already identified.

“This will be, in a way, a new revolution in the field of infrastructure. This is the time to end silos in infrastructure. There is a plan to connect the entire country with multi-model connectivity infrastructure,” he said.

NIP will play a crucial role in overcoming the adverse impact of Covid-19 on the economy and catapult the economy in a higher growth trajectory, he said.

Covid-19 pandemic and a 68-day nationwide lockdown to check the spread of the virus since March 25 adversely impacted the country’s economic growth, which was already subdued. India’s gross domestic product (GDP) slowed to 4.2% in fiscal 2019-20, the lowest in 11 years. It followed precipitous growth contractions reported by the US and European countries after the pandemic closed shops, factories and restaurants, signalling a period of recession. The US economy posted a second-quarter contraction of 9.5%, the worst figure on record.

India is expected to report its April-June GDP numbers by the end of this month. Economists expect its economy to contract by at least 5% this year (2020-21) especially because the country had seen a hard lockdown for two full months of the quarter (April and May).

The government on December 31 last year unveiled the NIP with an aim to make India a $5 trillion economy by 2024-25. The focus of the infrastructure pipeline is to accelerate growth and create employment in both urban and rural areas. The NIP is already under execution as 40% of the projects worth Rs 44 lakh crore are at various stages of implementation, government officials said requesting anonymity.

Giving emphasis to import of raw material and export of value-added products to make India a manufacturing hub, PM Modi said, “How long can the raw material be sent out of our country and finished products imported?. “Atmnirbhar Bharat doesn’t mean only reducing imports, it means to enhancing our capacity, our creativity, our skills,” he added.

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