India Grows 'With the World, Not at Anyone's Cost': PM Modi at Bloomberg Forum

New Delhi, Oct 13 (KNN) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said India's economic growth was anchored in strong fundamentals, financial resilience and sustained reforms, positioning the country as a global economic and technology power capable of contributing to shared prosperity.

“We do not grow at anyone's cost. We grow with the world, and for the world,” he said, highlighting the role India could play amid geopolitical tensions, supply-chain disruptions and competition over strategic resources.

Addressing the Bloomberg New Economy Forum, Modi cited 7.8 per cent economic growth in the April-June quarter, foreign exchange reserves exceeding USD 700 billion and reforms in taxation, insolvency and labour laws as indicators of India's resilience.

“In a world filled with uncertainty, India offers the assurance of reliability and stability,” he said, adding that the country's growth was taking place on a strong foundation, PTI reported.

Modi emphasised that India's approach to global engagement was based on the principle of ‘Power to Empower’, arguing that economic and technological strength should be measured by the opportunities it creates for others rather than the ability to control them.

Digital Infrastructure Promotes Inclusive Growth

Inviting international delegates to experience India's digital payment ecosystem, Modi noted that in India businesses of different sizes in the country could use the same platform.

“In our country, a street vendor and a car showroom have different kinds of businesses and operate at different scales, but in India, both use the same digital payment platform,” he said.

“This is the power of inclusive technology,” he noted, adding that digital public infrastructure, affordable mobile data, digital payments and direct benefit transfers had widened access to economic opportunities.

The Prime Minister said India's startup ecosystem had expanded from a few hundred ventures before 2014 to more than 2.5 lakh. Nearly half of these startups are based in smaller cities and towns, while 45 per cent have at least one woman director or partner.

Modi highlighted that technology-enabled welfare transfers had also contributed to poverty reduction, claiming that 25 crore people had been lifted out of poverty over the past decade.

Clean Energy And Reforms Remain Key Priorities

Modi said India had achieved its target of sourcing 40 per cent of installed electricity capacity from non-fossil fuels in November 2021, ahead of its 2030 deadline under the Paris climate pledge. Renewable energy capacity, he said, had increased from around 75 GW in 2014 to approximately 300 GW.

He also highlighted the PM Surya Ghar and PM-KUSUM schemes, which support household solar adoption and solar power generation by farmers.

The Prime Minister cited initiatives such as the International Solar Alliance, Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure and Global Biofuels Alliance as examples of India's efforts to strengthen international cooperation.

On domestic policy, Modi said reforms remained central to India's growth strategy, citing the Goods and Services Tax, insolvency legislation, consolidation of labour laws and decriminalisation of hundreds of minor business-related offences.

“For us, reforms are not a compulsion. Reforms are our conviction,” he added.

(KNN Bureau)