PM Modi’s vow to make ‘Bharat’ 3rd largest economy in 3rd term

Prime Minister Narendra Modi make a compelling argument on Wednesday for a third term by promising to speed up India’s economic development and growth so that it will rank third in the world in terms of GDP.

The Prime Minister presented data to emphasise his administration’s development goal on a day when the Opposition Congress introduced a resolution of no confidence in his administration in the Lok Sabha. He also expressed confidence that he will eradicate poverty and turn India into a developed country over the course of the next 25 years.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that his good governance model combined with good intent and the right policies will turn India into a developed country and make “Bharat” the third-largest economy in his third term (2024–29).

“At the beginning of our first term, India was the world’s 10th-largest economy. In the second term, today India is the fifth largest economy in the world. I assure the country that in the third term, India’s name will be among the first three economies of the world,” he said, while delivering a speech in Hindi at the inauguration of the International Exhibition-cum-Convention Centre (IECC) in Delhi, which has been named Bharat Mandapam, he remembered his government’s track record of changing India into the fifth largest economy in the world from the 10th position at the beginning of his first term (2014-19).

The prime minister claimed that the world is closely watching India’s development. “The entire country is seeing the results of the work his administration has been done since taking charge in 2014” he added.  “I will assure the country that in my third term, Bharat’s journey of development will be even faster,” he further said.

India has the world’s fastest-growing major economy. In the fiscal year 2022–2023, the economy increased by 7.2%, exceeding the government’s own projection of 7% GDP growth and pleasantly surprised most observers. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) updated its estimate of India’s growth for the calendar year 2023 from 5.9% to 6.1% on Tuesday, an increase of 0.2 percentage points.

“Today, Bharat is progressing fast on the principle of think big, dream big, act big, and we are doing that,” Modi said, citing examples of the construction of the world’s largest solar park, the highest rail bridge, a 10,000-feet-long tunnel, the highest motorable road, the biggest statue, and the world’s largest cricket stadium in the country.

The PM further added in his speech that India is today seeing an infrastructure revolution as in the last nine years, ₹34 lakh crore has been spent on infrastructure creation.

In the last nine years, electrification of 40,000km of railway lines took place as compared to just 20,000 in the past seven decades before his government came to power, he said.

City gas infrastructure was present in just 60 cities before 2014 and environment-friendly CNG and piped gas is now available in over 600 towns and cities, he said.

Before 2014, 600m per month of Metro lines were laid, while today 6km Metro lines are being laid every month; today, the country has 725,000km rural roads compared to just 400,000km before 2014, he said.

India can become a prosperous nation and eradicate poverty, according to Modi, who acknowledged the nation’s assets. In just five years, 135 million people in India have been lifted out of poverty, according to a Niti Aayog assessment on a multidimensional measure of poverty. He referenced international organisations that claimed that due to the government’s initiatives over the previous nine years, India has been able to eliminate extreme poverty.

The IECC complex has been developed at a cost of about ₹2,700 crore and is spread over 123 acres. The PM Modi joined in a traditional ritual and dedicated the complex to the nation and also met workers who were involved in its construction. It is the country’s largest meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (MICE) destination.