PM Modi on Bengaluru's 'vital role' in establishing India as 'start-up hub'

PM Modi also counted the achievements of Karnataka in his address.

Bengaluru plays a vital role in establishing India as a "start-up" hub, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday after he unveiled a 108-feet tall "Statue of Prosperity" in honour of Nadaprabhu Kempegowda, widely believed to be the founder of the city. PM Modi kicked off his Karnataka visit with the launch of the first Vande Bharat, the semi-high speed train, in south India, from the Karnataka capital. The key events come ahead of the assembly elections due next year.

Bengaluru: Prime Minister Narendra Modi being presented a memento during a public meeting after the inauguration of Terminal 2 of Kempegowda International Airport. (PTI)

"India is known all over the world for its start-ups, and Bengaluru plays a vital role in getting India established as a startup hub. The success of Make-in-India programme, the 5G technology, the UPI, nothing would have been possible without the sheer contribution of professionals from Bengaluru. The India before 2014 was something altogether different than the present prosperous and technically advanced India ," PM Modi said during his address. "I am fortunate to have arrived in Bengaluru on a very special day. It's a day on which falls the birth anniversary of two great sons of the nation- Sant Kanaka Das and Maharshi Valmiki. I pay my tributes to both of them," he further underlined.

He also highlighted the recent economic contributions of the southern state to the country. "Last year, Karnataka was a pioneer in attracting FDI (Foreign Direct Investments) in the country. The investment isn't limited to just the IT sector, it's spread from biotech to defence manufacturing. In the last three years, when the world was affected by Covid, Karnataka managed to attract ₹4 lakh crore of investment," PM Modi underlined.

He also took an apparent dig at the Congress. "The previous governments used to consider speed, a luxury, and scale, a risk! We changed this mindset absolutely. We consider speed, the aspiration and scale, the strength of nation," the Prime Minister further asserted.