Effective containment of Corona in India has saved the humanity from a very big tragedy: PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the World Economic Forum’s Davos Dialogue on January 26 via video conferencing. He spoke on the ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution – using technology for the good of humanity’. Prime Minister Modi also interacted with the CEOs during the event.

Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister said that he has brought the message of confidence, positivity and hope from 1.3 billion Indians amidst these times of apprehension. The Prime Minister told the gathering that despite the initial misgivings about the India’s capacity to handle the pandemic, India moved forward with proactive and pro-participation approach and worked on strengthening the COVID specific health infrastructure, trained its human resource to tackle the pandemic and used technology massively in testing and tracking of the cases. In India, fight against corona was turned into people’s movement and India succeeded in saving lives of maximum number of its citizens. India’s success has global implications as 18 percent of world population live here, and effective containment here saved the humanity from a very big tragedy, said the Prime Minister. Shri Modi also talked about the world’s biggest vaccination drive and India’s global efforts during the pandemic. He talked about evacuation of citizens when air space was closed and supply of medicines to more than 150 countries. Today, India is helping countries with online training, knowledge of traditional knowledge, vaccines and vaccine infrastructure. He informed that apart from the two current made in India vaccines, more vaccines are in pipeline which will enable India to help the world at greater scale and speed.

The Prime Minister also informed the forum about the steps being taken on economic front. He said that India has maintained economic activity by starting infrastructure projects worth billions of rupees and initiating special schemes for employment. Earlier we focused on saving lives now everyone is focussed on the growth of the country. India’s ambition of self-reliance will strengthen globalism anew and will help in Industry 4.0, noted Shri Modi.

The Prime Minister asserted that India is working on all the four factors of Industry 4.0- connectivity, automation, artificial intelligence or machine learning and real-time data. India is among the countries where data charges are the cheapest and mobile connectivity and smart phones have reached far and wide. India’s automation design expert pool is vast and the country has made a mark in the field of AI and machine learning. Growing digital infrastructure has made digital solutions everyday part of life in India. The Prime Minister said that today 1.3 billion Indians have universal ID- Aadhar which is connected to their account and phone. In December itself there has been 4 trillion rupees worth of transection through UPI. India could transfer 1.8 trillion rupees worth of assistance through direct benefit transfer to the accounts of 760 million Indians during the pandemic. Digital Infrastructure has made public service delivery efficient and transparent. India has started a campaign for providing easy access to health care by giving Unique Health ID to its citizens, informed the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister assured the forum that India’s Aatamnirbhar Bharat movement is committed to global good and global supply chain as India has capacity, capability and reliability to strengthen global supply chain. Its massive consumer base will further grow and help global economy.

The Prime Minister said India, along with possibilities, is filled with confidence and drive as there have been continued emphasis on reforms and incentive based stimulus. Structural reforms during Corona times have been supported by production linked incentives. India offer ease of doing business as there is a predictable and friendly environment from tax regime to FDI norms. And to top it all India is matching its growth with the goals of climate change, said Shri Modi. The Prime Minister cautioned that technology should become a tool of ease of living not a trap, we have to keep this in mind as Corona crisis has reminded us of value of humanity, concluded the Prime Minister.

During the question answer session, the Prime Minister explained to Joe Kaeser, President & CEO, Siemens, the contours of aatamnirbhar Bharat campaign and said that making India a manufacturing and export hub is big part of the vision. He also invited the global players to take advantage of 26 billion dollar Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme. In a reply to Bjorn Rosengren, CEO, ABB, Shri Modi listed out the ongoing infrastructure projects in the country and informed that under National Infrastructure pipeline, projects worth 1.5 trillion US dollars will be implemented in the country in next five years. To Ajay S Banga, CEO, Mastercard, Shri Modi explained the massive financial inclusion that has taken place in the country in the recent times and steps taken to strengthen MSME sector. In a reply to an observation from Arvind Krishna of IBM, the Prime Minister emphasized the depth of digital India. The Prime Minister said that the country’s digital profile has been completely transformed. Government’s vision is to transform the country through access, inclusion and empowerment while ensuring the privacy of the user. To Nobuhiro Endo, Chairman of the Board, NEC Corporation, the Prime Minister explained India’s approach towards the opportunities created by urbanization. India is focussing on sustainable urbanization with focus on ease of living, ease of doing business and climate sensitive development. This commitment has led to investment of 150 billion dollars were invested in urban India during 2014 to 2020, said the Prime Minister.

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