PM Modi addresses CII Annual Session via video conferencing

Published By : Admin | June 2, 2020 | 11:09 IST
India will definitely get its growth back: PM Modi
Five things are utmost important to make India a self-reliant economy - Intent, Inclusion, Investment, Infrastructure and Innovation: PM Modi
Our reforms are not scattered; rather, our reforms are planned, futuristic: PM Modi
Our government considers the private sector as an important partner of the government in its path to the self-reliant India: PM

The Prime Minister delivered the inaugural address at the 125th Annual Session of Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) through video conference today. The theme of this years annual conference is “Building India for a New World : Lives, livelihood, growth”

 

Speaking on the occasion, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi said such online events are becoming the new normal due to Corona. This is also the biggest strength of human beings that makes a way out of every difficulty, he added. He said, “On the one hand, we have to take strict steps to fight this Virus and save the lives of the countrymen and on the other hand we have to stabilize the economy and speed it up.”

Referring to the theme of this year's annual session, the Prime Minister praised the indian industry for starting the discussion of "Getting Growth Back". He urged the industry to go beyond it and said “Yes! We will definitely get our growth back.” He said that his trust in India's Capabilities and Crisis Management, in India's Talent and Technology, in its Innovation and Intellect of India, in the Farmers of India, MSME’s, Entrepreneurs makes him confident about getting the growth back.

PM said Corona may have slowed down the speed of the growth, but today the biggest fact is that India has overtaken the lockdown phase and entered in the Un-Lock Phase one. A large part of Economy has opened in Un-Lock Phase one. A lot is going to open after 8th June. Getting Growth Back has started, he added.

The Prime Minister emphasized that when Coronavirus was spreading in the world, India took the right steps at the right time. He said “Today we get to know how widespread the effect of lockdown in India is, by comparing it with other countries.” He said “Re-strengthening Economy against Corona is one of our highest priorities.” For this, the government is taking the decisions that are required immediately and also those that are required in the long run, he added.

The Prime Minister listed the steps taken by the Government in helping people during this crisis situation. Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana has helped a lot in providing immediate benefits to the poor. Ration has been delivered to about 74 crore Beneficiaries under this scheme. Free ration is also being provided to migrant workers. Be it women, disabled persons, elderly, laborers, everyone has benefited from it. During the lockdown, the government has delivered more than 8 crore gas cylinders to the poor - that too free. 50 lakh private employees have got the Government contribution of 24% of EPF amount in their bank accounts, which amounts to Rs.800 Crore.

Prime Minister listed 5 things which are very important to build a Aatmanirbhar Bharat and to bring India back on the path of rapid development, viz. Intent, Inclusion, Investment, Infrastructure and Innovation. These are reflected in the bold decisions taken by the Government recently, he added. He also said that many sectors have been made ready for the future.

The PM said “For us reforms are not any random or scattered decisions. For us reforms are systemic, planned, integrated, inter-connected and futuristic processes. For us, reforms means having the courage to take decisions, and taking them to a logical conclusion.” He listed out the initiatives of the Government to make an encouraging ecosystem for the private enterprises like Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), Bank merger, GST and Faceless IT assessment.

The Prime Minister further said that the government is also doing such policy reforms which the country had given up hope. In the agriculture sector, the Prime Minister said the rules and regulations made after independence, left the farmers in the hands of middlemen. After amendment in Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) Act, now farmers have the right to sell to anyone, in any state of the country.

The PM said that labour reforms are being done to increase employment opportunities, keeping the welfare of our workers in mind. Non-strategic sectors in which the private sectors were not allowed, have also been opened. Commercial mining is now allowed in the coal sector, he added. Prime Minister said “In the direction the government is moving, be it our mining sector, energy sector, or research and technology, industry will also get opportunities in every field, and new opportunities will also open for youths. Going beyond all this, now the participation of private players in the strategic sectors of the country is also becoming a reality. Whether you want to invest in the space sector, or want to explore new opportunities in atomic energy, the possibilities are completely open for you.”

The Prime Minister said the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector is like an economic engine of our country and contributes around 30% of the GDP. He said that a long time demand of the industry to update the definition of MSMEs has been fulfilled. This will enable MSMEs to grow without any worries and they will not have to follow other paths to maintain the status of MSMEs. Global tenders have been scrapped in government procurement of up to Rs 200 crores to benefit crores of associates working in MSMEs of the country, he added.

PM said that the expectation of India from the world has increased and they trust India more. India helped more than 150 countries with medical supplies, he added. The Prime Minister said that the world is looking for a trusted, reliable partner. In India, there is a potential, strength and ability. He urged the industry to take full advantage of the trust that has developed towards India.

He stressed that Getting Growth Back is not so difficult either. The biggest thing is that now Indian Industries have a clear path that is Aatmanirbhar Bharat. He clarified that Aatmanirbhar Bharat means that we will become stronger and embrace the world. Aatmanirbhar Bharat means to be fully integrated with the world economy and also supportive.

The Prime Minister stressed the need to invest for the creation of a Robust Local Supply Chain that strengthens India's stake in the Global Supply Chain. He gave a call for big institutions like CII to come forward in a new role post-Corona to make India self reliant. He stressed for the need to have products made in the country, made for the world. He urged the industry to set targets to increase productivity in all sectors. He praised the industry for having created Personal Protective Equipments - PPEs industry worth hundreds of crores within 3 months.

The Prime Minister urged the industry to take full advantage of opening up investment and partnership with farmers in the rural economy. Now necessary infrastructure is being prepared for clusters of local agro products near the village. He said that the government considers the private sector as a partner for the country's development journey. He promised that every need of the industry related to the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan will be taken care of. He asked the industry to pledge to make the country self-sufficient and put their full strength to fulfill this resolve.

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Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi chaired the 50th meeting of PRAGATI - the ICT-enabled multi-modal platform for Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation - earlier today, marking a significant milestone in a decade-long journey of cooperative, outcome-driven governance under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. The milestone underscores how technology-enabled leadership, real-time monitoring and sustained Centre-State collaboration have translated national priorities into measurable outcomes on the ground.

Review undertaken in 50th PRAGATI

During the meeting, Prime Minister reviewed five critical infrastructure projects across sectors, including Road, Railways, Power, Water Resources, and Coal. These projects span 5 States, with a cumulative cost of more than ₹40,000 crore.

During a review of PM SHRI scheme, Prime Minister emphasized that the PM SHRI scheme must become a national benchmark for holistic and future ready school education and said that implementation should be outcome oriented rather than infrastructure centric. He asked all the Chief Secretaries to closely monitor the PM SHRI scheme. He further emphasized that efforts must be made for making PM SHRI schools benchmark for other schools of state government. He also suggested that Senior officers of the government should undertake field visits to evaluate the performance of PM SHRI schools.

On this special occasion, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi described the milestone as a symbol of the deep transformation India has witnessed in the culture of governance over the last decade. Prime Minister underlined that when decisions are timely, coordination is effective, and accountability is fixed, the speed of government functioning naturally increases and its impact becomes visible directly in citizens’ lives.

Genesis of PRAGATI

Recalling the origin of the approach, the Prime Minister said that as Chief Minister of Gujarat he had launched the technology-enabled SWAGAT platform (State Wide Attention on Grievances by Application of Technology) to understand and resolve public grievances with discipline, transparency, and time-bound action.

Building on that experience, after assuming office at the Centre, he expanded the same spirit nationally through PRAGATI bringing large projects, major programmes and grievance redressal onto one integrated platform for review, resolution, and follow-up.

Scale and Impact

Prime Minister noted that over the years the PRAGATI led ecosystem has helped accelerate projects worth more than 85 lakh crore rupees and supported the on-ground implementation of major welfare programmes at scale.

Since 2014, 377 projects have been reviewed under PRAGATI, and across these projects, 2,958 out of 3,162 identified issues - i.e. around 94 percent - have been resolved, significantly reducing delays, cost overruns and coordination failures.

Prime Minister said that as India moves at a faster pace, the relevance of PRAGATI has grown further. He noted that PRAGATI is essential to sustain reform momentum and ensure delivery.

Unlocking Long-Pending Projects

Prime Minister said that since 2014, the government has worked to institutionalise delivery and accountability creating a system where work is pursued with consistent follow-up and completed within timelines and budgets. He said projects that were started earlier but left incomplete or forgotten have been revived and completed in national interest.

Several projects that had remained stalled for decades were completed or decisively unlocked after being taken up under the PRAGATI platform. These include the Bogibeel rail-cum-road bridge in Assam, first conceived in 1997; the Jammu-Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail link, where work began in 1995; the Navi Mumbai International Airport, conceptualised in 1997; the modernisation and expansion of the Bhilai Steel Plant, approved in 2007; and the Gadarwara and LARA Super Thermal Power Projects, sanctioned in 2008 and 2009 respectively. These outcomes demonstrate the impact of sustained high-level monitoring and inter-governmental coordination.

From silos to Team India

Prime Minister pointed out that projects do not fail due to lack of intent alone—many fail due to lack of coordination and silo-based functioning. He said PRAGATI has helped address this by bringing all stakeholders onto one platform, aligned to one shared outcome.

He described PRAGATI as an effective model of cooperative federalism, where the Centre and States work as one team, and ministries and departments look beyond silos to solve problems. Prime Minister said that since its inception, around 500 Secretaries of Government of India and Chief Secretaries of States have participated in PRAGATI meetings. He thanked them for their participation, commitment, and ground-level understanding, which has helped PRAGATI evolve from a review forum into a genuine problem-solving platform.

Prime Minister said that the government has ensured adequate resources for national priorities, with sustained investments across sectors. He called upon every Ministry and State to strengthen the entire chain from planning to execution, minimise delays from tendering to ground delivery.

Reform, Perform, Transform

On the occasion, the Prime Minister shared clear expectations for the next phase, outlining his vision of Reform, Perform and Transform saying “Reform to simplify, Perform to deliver, Transform to impact.”

He said Reform must mean moving from process to solutions, simplifying procedures and making systems more friendly for Ease of Living and Ease of Doing Business.

He said Perform must mean to focus equally on time, cost, and quality. He added that outcome-driven governance has strengthened through PRAGATI and must now go deeper.

He further said that Transform must be measured by what citizens actually feel about timely services, faster grievance resolution, and improved ease of living.

PRAGATI and the journey to Viksit Bharat @ 2047

Prime Minister said Viksit Bharat @ 2047 is both a national resolve and a time-bound target, and PRAGATI is a powerful accelerator to achieve it. He encouraged States to institutionalise similar PRAGATI-like mechanisms especially for the social sector at the level of Chief Secretary.

To take PRAGATI to the next level, Prime Minister emphasised the use of technology in each and every phase of the project life cycle.

Prime Minister concluded by stating that PRAGATI@50 is not merely a milestone it is a commitment. PRAGATI must be strengthened further in the years ahead to ensure faster execution, higher quality, and measurable outcomes for citizens.

Presentation by Cabinet Secretary

On the occasion of the 50th PRAGATI milestone, the Cabinet Secretary made a brief presentation highlighting PRAGATI’s key achievements and outlining how it has reshaped India’s monitoring and coordination ecosystem, strengthening inter-ministerial and Centre-State follow-through, and reinforcing a culture of time-bound closure, which resulted in faster implementation of projects, improved last-mile delivery of Schemes and Programmes and quality resolution of public grievances.