PM Modi hails ‘Brand Bengaluru’ as global investors meet kicks off

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday expressed delight at the organisation of the global investors’ meeting in Karnataka and remarked that it is a perfect example of competitive and cooperative federalism.

“Brand Bengaluru comes foremost to the mind when it comes to talent or technology. This name is well established not only in India but the entire world,” PM Modi remarked while addressing the inaugural function of Invest Karnataka 2022.

He expressed happiness over the fact that thousands of crores of partnerships are planned at this meet which will result in boosting employment for the youth of the nation.

He pointed out that India received a record foreign investment of $84 billion last year, referring to the sense of global optimism towards the country.

The Prime Minister stressed the need to understand the trajectory of the Indian economy. He explained the change of approach from 9-10 years ago when the country was grappling with policy and implementation-related issues.

He underlined that “instead of trapping the investors in the red tape, we created an environment of the red carpet for investment, and instead of making new complicated laws, we rationalised them.”

The Prime Minister said “Building a New India is possible only with bold reforms, massive infrastructure and the best of talent. Today bold reforms are carried out in every sphere of the government.” He mentioned GST, IBC, Banking reforms, UPI, abolition of 1500 outdated laws and 40 thousand unnecessary compliances.

He also said that steps like decriminalisation of many company law provisions, faceless assessment, new avenues for FDI, liberalisation of drone rules, geospatial and space sector and defence sector are bringing unprecedented energy.

The Prime Minister said that the number of operational airports has doubled in the last 8 years and Metro has expanded in more than 20 cities.

Highlighting the aim of the PM-GatiShakti National Master Plan, the Prime Minister remarked that it is aimed at integrated infrastructure development. He explained that a road map is prepared not just for developing infrastructure but also for existing infrastructure while the most efficient route is discussed in implementing the plan. Shri Modi stressed the emphasis on last-mile connectivity and ways to improve the product or service by making it world-class. The Prime Minister highlighted the strides made by the youth in this journey and said every sector in India is being propelled by the energy of Youth Power.

The Prime Minister emphasised “Goals of development can be achieved only by focusing on investment and human capital. Moving forward on this thinking, we promoted investments in the Health and Education sector. Our aim is also to increase productivity as well as to improve Human Capital,” he explained.

India is moving with the world and giving emphasis on working with the world. Despite a climate of market saturation, our domestic markets are strong due to the aspirations of our citizens, he added.

Reflecting on the power of the double-engine government in Karnataka, the Prime Minister said that it is one of the reasons for the faster development of many sectors in the state. Giving examples, the Prime Minister stated that Karnataka continues to maintain its place among the top rankers in the Ease of Doing Business and credited this to its inclusion in the list of top states in terms of FDI.

He underlined, “400 of the Fortune 500 companies are here and out of 100 plus unicorns of India, more than 40 are in Karnataka” he added. The Prime Minister mentioned that Karnataka is being counted as the largest technology cluster in the world today which is home to industry, information technology, fintech, biotech, startups as well as sustainable energy. “A new story of development is being written in every field”, he added.

He further added that several development parameters of Karnataka are challenging not only other states of India but also some countries. Highlighting that India is entering a new phase of the manufacturing domain, the Prime Minister mentioned the National Semiconductor Mission and pointed out that the tech ecosystem here will take chip design and manufacturing to new heights.

PM Modi said that India has set a target of becoming a developed nation by 2047. “Investing in India means investing in inclusion, investing in Democracy, investing for the world, and investing for a better, cleaner and a safer planet”, he concluded.