News18's Rising India Summit LIVE: Break silos, derive solutions is our mantra for growth, says Narendra Modi

Narendra Modi concludes address

We are planning to spend Rs.1 lakh crore on revamping the education system: Modi

India is now a positive story: Modi

"When anyone talks about India, it is a positive story. It's among the top two emerging economies, one of the most popular destinations for FDI... Earlier, the tax system was seen as unfriendly. We have changed that," Modi said.

India brought issue of terrorism to the world centre stage: Modi

"Terrorism is not just one country's problem, it is a problem for everyone. India has kept this issue on the world stage," Modi said. 

India can break its shackles and progress: Modi

"India can break it's shackles and progress. In the last 4 years India's influence among the world powers have increased under a planned approach," Modi said. 

He said that his dream of ayushman bharat is not limited to India alone, through yoga and ayurveda, his government is trying to spread the message to the world. 

"India is working under motto ‘sab ka saath saab ka vikas’, but it is not restricted to only our country but the whole world," he added. 

Today, at least twice the number of heads of states come to India compared to previous governments: PM Modi

Watch: PM Modi talk about electrifying rural India

"Earlier, the new and renewable energy department did not know what the power ministry roadmap was. This created Silos. Today, we are moving towards Energy surplus status. We are also moving towards our dream of One Nation, One Grid," Modi said.

Health of women and newborns a priority of our government: Modi

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"The health of mothers and sisters is a priority for our government. We have integrated the women and child development department with the health department for this. We launched the National Nutrition Mission on International Women's Day. If women get good nutrition, then they will be healthy," Modi said. 

Our govt increased number of medical seats: Modi

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"There is a shortage of doctors in rural areas. To deal with that problem, we have increased the number of medical seats. We want a medical college for every three Parliamentary constituencies," Modi said. 

BJP govt reduced prices of heart stents to make it affordable for poor: Modi

"We aim to bring health wellness in every panchayat and make healthcare affordable to people. We have been able to reduce prices of heart stent and also knee implants," Modi said. 

13 crore households have toilets today. Sanitation coverage in India has gone up from 38 percent to 80 percent: Narendra Modi

When North East goes from isolation to integration, it will truly lead to a Rising India: Modi

"After Independence, there were 18,000 villages where there was no electricity. Now, Rs 16,000 crore is being spent on electrification projects. When the North East goes from isolation to integration, it will truly lead to a Rising India," Modi said.

Development of east India my priority: Modi

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"There has been a massive infrastructure push in road and rail sector in east India. 12 new airports are coming up in east India, out of which north east will have six new airport. This is the first time a commercial flight landed in Sikkim," Modi said. 

Our govt developing North East India, our mantra is Act East and Act Fast For East 

"Today I was in Manipur. As PM, this was my 28th or 29th visit to the North East. Those who think that we act east for votes have been cut out of people’s hearts. Our mantra is Act East and Act Fast For East," Modi said. 

"When I say east, it also includes Bengal, Odisha and other parts of eastern India. This region has been bereft of development for too long. It has been left behind in the race for development," he added. 

Narendra Modi delivers keynote address at News18 Rising India Summit

Our govt started implementing stalled projects: Modi

"Our government has taken decisions that were proposed decades ago but kept in files. We implemented old laws that had been passed decades ago. Our government has been able to take big decisions because of the people’s support and have been able to implement those decisions. There is a transformation shift in India because of citizens and their will to dream," Modi said. 

People accepted digital payment as their weapon: Modi

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"People have made digital payment a strong weapon for themselves. India is the fastest growing country to make digital payments at large. In the last four year, the common citizen leads and the government follows. You have seen how, in a short time, the Swachcha Bharat Mission has become a public revolution. The country's people have accepted digital payments and made it their weapon," Modi said. 

What does Rising India mean for PM Modi?

"The effect of the word 'rising India' gives us a vision of someone moving from the darkness to light. Rising India signifies growing, moving forward in life. What is Rising India, is it just about the economy, GDP, foreign investments, etc? For me, it means the rise of the self-respect of the 1.2 billion population of the entire nation: Prime Minister Narendra Modi starts his address at News18 Rising India," Narendra Modi said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives at News18 Rising India Summit 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi to deliver keynote address shortly

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan on upcoming state elections

"Congress is still trying to figure out their candidate in state. Let the party first appoint him its candidate, we will see after that," Chauhan said. 

Haryana is a peaceful state: Manohar Lal Khattar

"As far as law and order is concerned, Haryana is a peaceful state. Rape incidents have been reported in the recent past, but these incidents have happened earlier as well," Khattar said. 

On the issue of the arrest of Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, Khattar said that he believes that the operation to arrest him was a successful one as the police could arrest him without firing a bullet. 

Agriculture growing at a steady pace: MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan

"We concentrated on agriculture. We can provide livelihoods to farmers & our growth rate is 20+. Land areas of 40 lakh hectare is under cultivation right now. Skill development mission is PM's target, so it's not only agriculture that's important," Chouhan. 

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Indian companies don't get level playing field: MakeMyTrip CEO Deep Kalra

"We are no longer different than Silicon Valley, US or China. We've taken 'Atithi Devo Bhava' too literally because it is easier to do business in India being a foreign player," Deep Kalra, Founder and CEO, MakeMyTrip said. 

"Indian companies don't get an equal playing field. We have a unique opportunity today with digital India. There is no dearth of brain power and that's all that we need to win this game. Indians are among the smartest people in the world. Global CEOs are all Indians. However, we've rarely come up with products that can take on the world. We've done very well on the services front," he added. 

Session 3: Nayee rahein, Naye Sapne begins

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and Himachal Pradesh CM Jai Ram Thakur will participate. 

Indians need to boost local savings for a better economy: Sanjay Nayar CEO, KKR

"Investments today are only being driven by government. It is impossible to develop without investments, with just consumption going for us. The only thing going for us today is consumption. The country will have to figure out way of increasing its local savings. If we don't have reforms now, it'll be late," Sanjay Nayar CEO, KKR said. 

Anil Agarwal, Vedanta chief, bats for harvesting natural resources to alleviate poverty 

"I am always going to be bullish about India. Why can't we have 50 government companies who will be regarded globally. Why can't their reigns be handed to people like me. If you want to create jobs and remove poverty, you need to go below the ground," Agarwal said. 

Every country in the world has had the problem of NPAs: Rajnish Kumar, SBI chief

"Firstly, when you drive on a highway, enter an airport or feel good about the power situation, do not forget the bank. Let us understand the importance of public sector banks. When I look back the due diligence was lacking. There is no global power that did not have the problem of NPAs," Kumar said. 

We will international obligation: Suresh Prabhu on US dragging India to WTO on trade policies

"We will follow international obligation but obligation should also be country friendly. There are countries that have crossed the limit of 1000 dollars. I will not name them as they are friendly countries," Prabhu said. 

We have drafted new Industrial policy: Suresh Prabhu

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"Our Industrial policy draft is ready and we are getting the views of experts and policy watchers. The idea behind new industrial policy is to increase the proportion of manufacturing in GDP," Prabhu said. 

Structural issues holding back agriculture: Suresh Prabhu

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"India's GDP has been growing largely due to the service sector. Agriculture sector GDP is not growing due to structural issues. India has to focus mainly on manufacturing. That will foster agriculture as well," Prabhu said. 

Ease of Doing Business Rank must reach under 50 in next two years: Amitabh Kant

"We are growing at about 7.3%. We need to extend that further. We are still producing too small and our export is not penetrating. Ease of doing ranking in the next two years needs to be cracked in the first 50," Kant said. 

Session2: The Making of New World Power begins

On the panel are Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Suresh Prabhu, Anil Agarwal, Group Chairman, Vedanta, Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog, Deep Kalra, Founder & CEO of, MakeMyTrip, Rajnish Kumar, Chairman, SBI, Sanjay Nayar, Member & CEO, KKR India. The session is being moderated by CNBC TV-18's Shereen Bhan. 

The Building Blocks of India concludes, next up the Making of New World Power

Network 18 rebranded as News18; Union ministers Piyush Goyal, Nitin Gadkari unveil new brand logo

The keep asking money but no work is donw: Piyush Goyal on special category status

"Even when the 14th Financial Commission decided not to provide special category status to states except North East the central govt still provided them monetary back up. We changed the ratio of central state money sharing formula. They keep asking for money but there is no work done on the ground," Goyal said.

Here's what BJP  union ministers have to say on TDP walking out of NDA and Andhra special category status row

When asked if Andhra Pradesh has been left off this development train, as Chandrababu Naidu claims, Gadkari said this government has given double the number of highways than when Andhra was bifurcated in 2014.

Goyal added that the issue has become more about sentimentality than facts. "All the commitments made in the AP reorganization act have been fulfilled cent percent. We gave Rs 2,500 crore but no work was done on Amaravati," Gadkari.  

Farooq Abdullah requests railway minister to focus on cleanliness in AC coaches

National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah asked Railway Minister Piyush Goyal that the condition of the AC coaches was not up to the mark and the bedding provided by the railway staff are unhygeinic.

Taking the question, Goyal said that he would look into the issue and requested the general public to flag the issues they face during rail travel.  

"We have deployed 100 persons to roam around in trains across the country to give feedback and they are changing the government. It will be better if people can flag such issues," he said. 

NDA govt has chased targets aggressively: Piyush Goyal

"Targets and declaration are different. I will construct roads at 40 km per day of highways starting next financial year, Gadkari said."

Adding to this Piyush Goyal also said that this government has set very aggressive targets because it believes in pushing the envelope. "This government has believed in keeping a very aggressive targets. Because we genuinely believe we have to push teams for extraordinary performance," Goyal said. 

Terminated 47 old projects to start afresh, no project stagnant in my ministry: Nitin Gadkari

Gadkari said that he has terminated 47 old projects and started them afresh to achieve the infrastructure goals laid by Prime Minister Modi. He said that before March ends, he will achieve road making targets of this year and 28 kilometres of highways would have been built per day by the end of financial year. 

Delhi will be decongested very soon: Nitin Gadkari

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Gadkari said that prime minister would inaugurate a 14-lane road from Delhi to Dasna that would drastically reduce the travel time to Meerut. He also spoke about the eastern and western peripheral roads around Delhi, that would allow inter-state commuters to bypass Delhi, which will help decongestion drastically. The minister also saids that Dwarka expressway is nearing completion and has been built for Rs 7,000 crore.

By 2024 you will have the best railways network in the world: Piyush Goyal

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The railway minister said that India can expect to have the world's best railways infrastructure. He said that the ministry is looking at reforming the 100-year-old traffic control system and the old bridges to ensure a safe and secure railways. 

Want to invite middle class, aam aadmi to fund road, infra projects: Nitin Gadkari

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Union Road and Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said that so far in India, roads and highways were built by the government but now he foresees a culture where he would invite the normal citizens of India to invest their money in road and transport infrastructure . 

Here's what Deep Kalra, CEO MakeMyTrip views India's growth story

"I'm excited to be part of the summit. I'm bullish about the new age economy. Trickle down theory is playing out well. Aviation is important for us and the government has laid thrust on that and hotels are coming up. But there's one thing I worry about, which is whether we will be able to set up massive companies like Google. I think we need a little bit more runway for domestic companies that have all the wherewithal to compete with big international companies, especially because we're not on the extreme like China, where we totally protect the sector, we've opened it up," said Kalra. 

Amanpreet Bajaj, head, AirBnB India 'positive' about growth in India

"We are optimistic about India. We are also optimistic about how the Indian middle class will choose to travel in the future and we want to create a more robust eco system to facilitate that travel. Speaking specifically about ease of doing business, we feel encouraged by the positive outlook of the government. In the last one year, we have signed MOUs with Gujarat, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. We've also signed an MoU with National Skill Development Council to train more people for the hospitality sector," Bajaj said. 

Piyush Goyal, Nitin Gadkari arrive; first session to begin shortly

Union ministers Piyush Goyal and Nitin Gadkari have arrived and the first session 'The Building Blocks of India' will begin shotly. The session will be moderated by CNN-News18's Bhupendra Chaubey. 

India has demonstrated its potential as a global innovator: Raman Roy

"The opportunity is so fascinating and to have the PM come in and make a power point presentation here at Rising India is exciting to watch. India's potential has been demonstrated and now the potential is as a market, as a supplier, and as an innovator. It is coming up with a lot of solutions that will cater to a billion people. These will be new solutions and globally applicable solutions," Raman Roy, Chairman, Nasscom

Narendra Modi will make a power point presentation

Optimism is good, but there's still a long way to go for India: Ranjan Mathai

"Optimism is certainly very good for our country. But, at the same time we need to remember that the title of the summit is 'Rising India'. There is still some distance to go, we are on the trajectory but the trajectory is not an automatic one, we have to keep working on it," Mathai, ex-Foreign Secretary of India said. 

Nitin Gadkari, Piyush Goyal to hold opening discussion

Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari and Union Minister of Railways and Coal Piyush Goyal will be opening the event with a discussion on 'The Building Blocks of a Rising India'. 

National Security status has improved since 2014: Major Gen (retd) Dhruv Katoch, Director, India Foundation and former director CLAWS: 

"We have a long way to go taking 2014 in account. National security is very stable today as compared to 2014. Naxal problem is 50 year old and we can't expect it to get resolved in a year or two. As far as terrorist activities — level of violence have come down. Government has given a free hand to army while dealing with cross border issues and Pakistan. Country is stable politically and economically." Katoch said. 

Social sector, infrastructure development on top of govt's priority list: Sandeep Jajodia, President, Assocham

"I think we can already see large funds being allocated to social sector and infrastructural development. The Govt has clearly identified areas of priority and the policy framework around it has been put in such a manner to facilitate this growth and development. This govt has made such dramatic changes for the positive and has created a platform conducive for investment. Any democracy should have a balanced opposition and leadership for it to run in a meaningful way. I wouldn't call the current opposition weak," Jajodia said. 

BJP leader Sudhanshu Mittal reaches at the venue

"World over, people are proud of the accomplishment of their nations. Today, all the international financial bodies say our economy is progressing fast with a growth rate of 7.4 percent but there are a set of people who want to negate this. There should be bi-partisan politics in favour of national interest. It is a request to anybody part of the political landscape not to politicise issues of national interest." Mittal said. 

Sportsmen, celebs also part of event

Besides the ministers, Bollywood celebrities and sports stars will also grace the event. While a discussion titled ‘India Uncut’ will be held with actor Ranveer Singh on Saturday, female actor Kangana Ranaut will discuss the successful journey of her career in a session titled ‘ The making of a star’. A session on Day 2 of the vent will also focus on India’s rising prowess in the field of sport. 

A peak into the excitement before the event 

Countdown begins: News18's Rising India Summit is set to begin shortly