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Renewed focus on economic reforms, ‘naraz fufa’ dig at Rahul Gandhi: PM Modi spends day in Gujarat, Maharashtra
PM Modi emphasized fintech advancements and slammed the Opposition for past inefficiencies in infrastructure development.
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India’s strong growth was giving confidence to the world and the government will continue with economic reforms, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday as he attacked the Opposition and called for the integration of UPI with the payment systems of more countries.
Modi spent the day in Gujarat and Maharashtra, first laying the foundation stones, inaugurating and dedicating to the nation development projects worth ₹35,000 crore in Vadodara, then addressing the ‘Namo for Viksit Bharat’ programme, and finally inaugurating the Global Fintech Fest 2026 in Mumbai.
Modi said the world was passing through a period of conflict, uncertainty, energy and commodity challenges, and trade tensions, making India’s 7.8% GDP growth in the previous quarter particularly significant. He said the growing global confidence in India was also reflected in sovereign ratings.
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“Such developments showed that the world was confident about India’s growth momentum, macroeconomic stability and structural reforms. The country’s fintech story would remain incomplete without UPI, which has completed 10 years. What appeared impossible a decade ago has become a daily reality for millions of Indians,” he said.
Also Read | PM Modi says UPI now live in 11 countries, pushes for further global reach
He also called on the fintech industry to strengthen cybersecurity, adopt ethical data-protection standards, deepen regulator-industry innovation and develop a fintech consumer protection index for transparent company ratings.
PM Modi's ‘naraz fufa’ dig at Rahul Gandhi
Earlier in the day, he took a dig at the Opposition over the newly inaugurated dedicated freight corridor, saying critics would still complain like a “naraz fufa” (grumpy uncle) and manufacture grievances, while also dismissing Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s campaign against the government as “jhooth ki goonj” (echo of lies).
Speaking at the inauguration of three key sections of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor, connecting Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Navi Mumbai with Dadri in Uttar Pradesh, Modi praised his administration’s pace of execution and called the former Congress-led UPA regime’s working speed sluggish.
“After 2014, with your blessings, when I reached Delhi, and as soon as we arrived there, we began accelerating this project. Work on the dedicated freight corridor has been completed today,” Modi said.
Targeting Congress leader Rahul Gandhi without naming him, Modi said that opponents would always find fault with major infrastructure milestones.
“Now, the naraz fufaji (grumpy uncle) will start shouting: What will happen to the truck drivers? Where will the trucks go? What about the trucks people have purchased? Now, fufaji has found something new to complain about,” Modi quipped.
Modi pointed to rapid modernisation under his tenure.
“After 2014, India built 50,000 modern rail coaches. The previous regime could not build even 50,000 toilets in 10 years,” he said, reiterating that the nation’s youth would continue to champion reality over political rhetoric.
Modi's renewed Gen Z outreach
Taking aim at the Opposition’s outreach efforts, specifically Gandhi’s ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ campaign, the PM cautioned the youth.
Also Read | ‘Now Naraz Fufaji will start shouting’: PM Modi's jibe after unveiling ₹35,000-crore projects in Gujarat
“At every nook and corner, you will find people who will try to mislead you through lies, but today’s youth will stand with the truth,” Modi said.
At MSU Pavilion Ground, the stage was built like that in a concert where a Y-shaped ramp ran off the dais for Modi to walk among Gen-Z students and young professionals. Entry was by free BookMyShow registration. Seats filled in about an hour, some 42,000 were waitlisted, and about 6,000 were inside.
Earlier in the day at Maharaja Sayajirao University grounds, Modi underlined his government’s achievements.
“This dedicated freight corridor stands as a testament to how the country’s work culture has transformed over the last 12 years. The concept for this dedicated freight corridor was first mooted in 2004… A special company was formed in 2006 to execute this project. Yet, until 2014, the files merely shuttled back and forth; they were just traveling from one table to another. And look at the irony—even these files did not get the benefit of a dedicated corridor,” he said.
“In 2014, the people of Vadodara, Gujarat, and the entire nation sent me from Gujarat to Delhi. The previous government remained in power until 2014, you sent me there, and they were shown the door. In 7-8 years, not even a single kilometre of work on the freight corridor had been completed. Had the country been run according to their methods, who knows, even three or four subsequent generations might have passed without it ever getting done. That was the state in which they had left a project meant to transform India’s logistics ecosystem. After 2014, I set about accelerating this work immediately.”
Modi said that from the Red Fort on Independence Day, he had invoked ‘Saptadhara’ for Viksit Bharat (developed India) and that Gati Shakti was one of the seven streams.
Also Read | 'Not jhoot ki goonj, youth marches ahead with…': PM Modi's dig at Rahul Gandhi in Vadodara
In Mumbai, Modi urged the fintech ecosystem to not rest on the laurels of the past decade that saw real-time payments using UPI rise to 24.51 billion transactions, as of August this year. He said the focus should be to expand UPI to countries that are home to a large Indian diaspora, have high trade volumes with India or are willing to partner with New Delhi in connecting their systems.
“This is essential because Indians work in large numbers in foreign countries. They are the largest remitters of money. A part of the remittances goes away as transaction costs; UPI can help in saving on these costs and the money can also reach families faster,” he said.
Modi said the UPI platform was now live in 11 countries and connected with the local system in Singapore. “We can set our own rules and standards and connect them with the world,” he said.
Reiterating French President Emmanuel Macron’s words, Modi said UPI was not only a tech story but also a civilisational one.
