Fragile 5 no more, eyes on 100 GW nuclear energy target: Key numbers by PM Modi from Red Fort

PM Modi said people's efforts over the past 12 years had helped India move from the “fragile five” to a major economy.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, addressing the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort on the occasion of the 80th Independence Day, said on Saturday that the world had placed India among the “fragile five” economies and that people's efforts had helped the country move from the “fragile five” to a major economy over the past 12 years.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the nation during the 80th Independence Day celebrations, at Red Fort in New Delhi. (PTI)

Notably, the term “fragile five” referred to economies that were heavily dependent on risky foreign investment.

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Key numbers from Modi's Independence Day speech:

• PM Modi said the world had once placed India among the “fragile five” economies. He said people's efforts over the past 12 years had helped India move from the “fragile five” to a major economy.
• Modi said India now has 2.5 lakh registered start-ups.
• He said India needs to focus on 3 key areas - cost, quality and skills.
• He said India should take its digital public technologies to every part of the world and make Made-in-India 6G available globally.
• Modi said more than 50 lakh households across the country are now covered by solar energy.
• Modi said the government had decided to train one crore young people in AI skills over the next year.
• He said production had already begun at three semiconductor plants in India, while five to eight more are expected to be established in the coming years.
• He said defence production had grown four times, Khadi and Gramodyog production five times and electronics manufacturing seven times over the past 12 years.
• PM Modi said mobile phone production had risen by 33%, while digital transactions had increased by 100%.
• He said railway electrification, which began in 1925, had reached only 30% after 90 years, but India completed the remaining work over the past decade.
• PM said India should aim to have 50 companies feature in the Fortune 500.
• He said Indian companies should work towards having at least five pharma companies among the world’s top five.
• Modi said India’s banking sector was growing and expressed hope that an Indian bank would feature among the world’s top five.
• He said piped gas connections had expanded from 70 cities 12 years ago to 700 cities today, with 1.75 crore households now connected to the network.
• PM said India has set a target of 100 GW of nuclear energy and is working to set up five new nuclear reactors.
• PM Modi said India had fewer than 350 universities between 2004 and 2014, but nearly 650 new universities had been added over the past 10-12 years, taking the total to almost 1,000.
• He said the number of medical colleges had risen from around 400 before 2014 to nearly 850 today.
• He said the world had begun recognising India’s capabilities, saying that the country had concluded free trade agreements (FTAs) with 40 countries.