Welfare, infrastructure, enterprise are BJP govt’s ‘3 core pillars of growth’: Piyush Goyal

Goyal said that India’s development journey was rooted in its civilisational values of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, which view the world as one large family

MUMBAI: Union minister for commerce and industry Piyush Goyal on Saturday declared that the country was “firmly on track to become the world’s third-largest economy by 2027 and a USD 30 trillion-plus economy by 2047”. He was speaking at the World Hindu Economic Forum in Mumbai.

Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal addresses the World Hindu Economic Forum 2025, in Mumbai (PTI)

Goyal said that India’s development journey was rooted in its civilisational values of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, which view the world as one large family. He noted that this philosophy, articulated by Swami Vivekananda over a century ago and reinforced globally through India’s G20 presidency in 2023, provided a sustainable model for global governance.

The minister outlined what he called the three core pillars of India’s growth strategy under the current government. “The first pillar is public welfare,” he said, claiming that large-scale initiatives in housing, sanitation, food security, electricity, water supply, healthcare, education, and digital connectivity had “ensured that basic needs are met for citizens”.

The second pillar, he said, was infrastructure, pointing out that India had seen rapid expansion in highways, expressways, airports, railways, ports, and digital networks. He highlighted that 99 percent of Indian Railways was now electrified, “improving efficiency, safety, and sustainability”.

Highlighting the period from 1998 to 2004 under former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Goyal said that India had witnessed “a major economic turnaround” during this time. “More than six crore jobs were created, foreign exchange reserves rose from just about USD 29 billion to USD 103 billion, and inflation was brought under control to about four percent,” he said. “The growth rate was more than eight percent; at the same time, interest rates were brought down drastically from more than 15 percent to around seven percent. Landmark infrastructure projects such as the Golden Quadrilateral and the Mumbai-Pune Expressway were completed during this period.”

Hitting out at the Congress, Goyal alleged that between 2004 and 2014, corruption, policy paralysis, and flawed free trade agreements pushed the economy backward. He cited the alleged 2G scam, coal scam, Commonwealth Games scam, and the jump in trade deficit with China as key features of that period.