Global Business Forum: Modi invites businesses to invest in India
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered keynote address at Bloomberg Global Business Forum in New York. Several renowned business and political leaders such as Bill Clinton, former International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde and CEOs of Fortune 500 companies were in attendance at the forum. PM Modi is currently in the United States to attend the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
India's economic growth a great success story: Michael R Bloomberg
PM Modi was invited by Bloomberg LP and Bloomberg Philanthropies Founder and former NYC mayor, Michael Bloomberg to speak at the event. Bloomberg said, "India's economic growth is one of the great success stories of the century. I've gotten to see that growth first hand."
'130cr Indians delivered judgment that development is their only requirement'
At the Bloomberg Global Business Forum, PM Modi spoke on 'Restoring Global Stability'. He started by talking about sweeping the Lok Sabha polls earlier this year, saying, "You have a government in India that was re-elected with a bigger mandate than last time." "In this election 130 crore Indians delivered a judgment that development is their only requirement," he said.
'Come to India': He invites corporates to invest in India
Inviting global businesses to work with India, PM Modi said, "Today India is in a unique position. If you want to invest in a market where there is scale, come to India." He added, "The investment our government is making towards infrastructure development, it has never been done before. Almost Rs. 100 lakh crore will be spent on advanced infrastructure in the coming years."
Modi government 'doesn't shy away from big risks'
PM Modi went on to say that his government "does not shy away from taking big decisions to make reforms." "We announced a huge cut in corporate tax. It's revolutionary for investment. Everyone I have spoken to since then has called it historic," he said. He added, "We have scrapped 50 old laws that were creating hindrances in the path of development."
'From tangle of taxes to one GST'
Further, PM Modi said, "Our government has stressed on building seamless, inclusive and transparent systems. He added, "While earlier there used to be a tangle of taxes, now there is one GST (Goods and Services Tax)."
'We are determined to reach $5 trillion'
"We are rapidly modernizing our cities with citizen-friendly infrastructure," said PM Modi, "No Indian government has invested in infrastructure as us." He said, "We have opened our defense sector like never before." He added, "When we came to power, India's economy was about $2 trillion. We have added 1 trillion. We are determined to reach $5 trillion."
'Your technology and our talent can change the world'
Addressing global leaders, PM Modi said, "Your desires and our dreams, match. Your technology and our talent can change the world. Your scale and our skill can speed up global economic growth," He added, "If there's a gap anywhere, I will act as a bridge."
PM Modi and Bloomberg also sat down for one-on-one meeting
Immediately after his address, PM Modi sat down with Bloomberg for a one-on-one meeting where he talked about climate change and clean energy. He said we have no right to exploit "Mother Earth" and "there's no space for greed." He acknowledged that India has the world's third-largest coal reserve, adding, "As a developing nation, we cannot ignore it but can change our mining processes."
'There can't be any isolated action in the world anymore'
"We're running ahead of time in renewable energy," PM Modi said, "I've set a new target of 450 GW for the near future." He talked about India launching a key mission for water conservation and discouraging single-use plastics. He expressed his wish to move towards organic farming. "There can't be any isolated action in the world anymore. We're interdependent on each other," he added.
