Recently Narendra Modi ji delivered the keynote address at the Times Now Summit. The theme of the summit was ‘India Action Plan 2020’. His keynote address touched upon various aspects of the Indian economy and its future. So in this post, I will provide the highlights of what Modi ji said at the summit:

He started the address with an interesting analogy. Modi ji said that India is consistently working on the ‘decade action plan’. He drew an analogy from cricket and said that India’s goal is to perform very well in the entire series as well as create new records.  He said “India is the youngest nation in the world which wants to play on the front foot. The 8-month old government has scored a century of decisions. India has taken quick decisions, work has happened at a quick pace.”

India will become a USD 5 trillion economy soon

Now coming to the state of the economy, Modi ji said the aim of the government is to make India a USD 5 trillion economy within the next five years. According to Modi ji, it is definitely not an easy goal but it is also not impossible to achieve this goal. In order to reach this goal, the government has taken several decisions.  In this regard, I must draw your attention to this particular quote from Modi ji: “Earlier, no one asked why it took so long and nobody gave an answer,” the prime minister added. “Now we have set a target, facing the questions and making all-out efforts to achieve this target. India will now not waste time; it will surge ahead with confidence. The Union Budget will help achieve the target of a $5 trillion economy”

He also noted that manufacturing and the export sector need to grow at a fast pace to achieve this target. He added: “Amid these steps, it is also true that an emerging economy like India faces a lot of challenges. It is for the first time that a government has focussed on economic growth in small cities and towns. It is for the first time that any government has valued the dreams of small cities and towns”.

Economic growth through smaller cities

Modi ji further noted that smaller cities play a very important role in driving the economic growth of the country. That is why it is crucial to increase the number of economic centers in the country. A lot of these centers will be in two and three-tier cities as a large number of working-class and poor people live there. He made a note that a vast majority of the startups are located in two and three-tier cities.  

Make in India and tax reforms

Modi ji said that INR 100 lakh crore-worth investment that are expected will help India to achieve the USD 5 trillion economy target. “The investment will give a boost to the development and welfare of the nation. The finance minister is constantly meeting stakeholders in various cities in this regard,” he further added.

Regarding the Make In India project, Modi ji noted that it was a huge success and helped the nation. He further added that “1,90,000 crore electronic products were manufactured in 2014 in the country. Now the figure has increased to 4,60,000 crore. In 2014, there were two mobile manufacturing companies in India. Today, India is the second-largest mobile manufacturer in the world”. These figures are inspiring and instills confidence that India will be able to achieve the goals with ease. 

He briefly touched upon the tax reforms that have been introduced by the government. As part of the reforms, the average GST rate has reduced from 14.4% to 11.8% in the last three years. The Union Budget for 2020-21 Union has introduced a host of tax reforms. However, Modi ji expressed his shock about the number of  Indians who have a declared income over INR 1 crore. I am in complete agreement with his observations and as he rightly pointed out: “In the last five years, over 1.5 crore high-end cars have been sold and over three crore Indians have gone abroad, but only 1.5 crore Indians pay taxes. Out of this, only 3 lakh people have declared their income over Rs 50 lakh & 2,200 people over Rs 1 crore. It is shocking.” One can only hope that people do not resort to tax evasion and the tax department takes the right steps to nab the lawbreakers. 

Conclusion 

I think this keynote address was much needed to give a befitting reply to the naysayers. It is evident from Modi ji’s speech that the government is taking the right steps to drive India into a new direction and I sincerely hope that India is able to achieve the target with ease.