India Inc Hails PM's Growth Vision, Backs Self-Reliance Push

India Inc on Saturday welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Independence Day address, saying it looks forward to working with the government to translate his announcements into actionable programmes to boost investment, jobs, innovation and manufacturing.

Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII, said, "As we mark 80 years of Independence, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address puts people, sustainability and India's global strengths at the centre of our development journey.

"His call for Atmanirbhar Bharat, Make in India and Vocal for Local reflects our growing confidence to build a self-reliant, future-ready nation, one that has moved from being among the 'Fragile Five' to the world's fastest-growing major economy in just over a decade".

Industry shares the prime minister's resolve to build on this momentum and is ready to match it with sustained investment in areas of strategic importance, Banerjee stated.

Agriculture and food processing stand out as a real opportunity: with wider market access through FTAs, we need to take our farm produce to global markets, building global brands around our millets, spices, fruits and flowers. This can open up new opportunities for farmers and rural enterprises, while strengthening India's place in global value chains, the CII Director General said.

Highlighting the prime minister's focus on nuclear energy, semiconductors and the green and blue economies, Banerjee said these also point to where India's next decade of growth will come from, while the recognition of India's soft power adds a fresh dimension to our global economic presence.

In his 75-minute speech on the country's 80th Independence Day, Prime Minister Modi listed seven streams (sapta dharas) -- manufacturing, power, agriculture and food processing, technology and innovation, gatishakti, defence power, green economy and blue economy, and soft power -- to drive India forward and take the nation to greater heights.

The prime minister called for developing a vibrant and strong civil defence infrastructure and pitched for making India a global hub for defence manufacturing, placing special emphasis on self-reliance in advanced capabilities such as hypersonic technology and drone systems.

He also promised to provide free online coaching for various exams, as he rued coaching classes becoming a burden for the poor and the middle class.

The prime minister exhorted Indians to dream big to achieve the goal of a developed India by 2047, saying the world will be forced to look at the country differently as "we work towards achieving this dream".

He said India needed to strengthen domestic capacity in critical areas, including energy and minerals, as geopolitical tensions increasingly exposed the risks of dependence on external sources.

Modi also said India has taken a step towards becoming self-reliant in the nuclear power sector, with the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) at Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu, attaining criticality this year.

The seven-stream "Sapta Dhara" framework provides a broad-based approach to inclusive, sustainable and accelerated development, Assocham President Nirmal Kumar Minda said.

He said the emphasis on self-reliance, Vocal for Local, domestic manufacturing and strategic capabilities is highly significant for strengthening India's economic resilience.

Minda said that the prime minister's Independence Day vision provides strong confidence to Indian industry and the wider business community.