Expanding his India first pitch to ‘Make in India, Make for World’, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said India must become self-reliant and use its vast natural resources to produce for the domestic as well as the global market.
Addressing the nation from the Red Fort on India’s 74th Independence Day, Modi said that in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, 130 crore Indians have pledged to build an ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’.
“I am confident that India will realise this dream. I am confident of the abilities and potential of my fellow Indians. Once we decide to do something, we do not rest till we achieve that goal,” he said.
The prime minister said the country received record foreign direct investments during the last fiscal and even during the coronavirus pandemic, big global companies are looking towards India.
He said the FDI growth was recorded at 18% last fiscal. Modi reiterated in his address the ‘Vocal for Local’ call and said that India should strive for meeting needs of the world as well and wondered how long the country would continue to export raw materials and import finished products.
He said India has vast natural resources and need of the hour was value addition. “Now we have to move ahead with the mantra of ‘make for the world’ along with Make in India,” he said.
"To fulfil the Atmanirbhar Bharat dream, we need an integrated infrastructure," the PM added. For this, we have prepared a huge plan to connect the entire country through a multi-modal connectivity infrastructure, he said.
He further said Aatmanirbhar Bharat does not mean only reducing dependence on imports, but strengthening India’s capacity, creativity and skills. Speaking for the seventh time in a row from the Red Fort, he said there are numerous challenges in becoming self-reliant, but there are millions of solutions as well.
“India has always believed that the entire world is one family. While we focus on economic growth and development, humanity must retain a central role in this process and our journey,” Modi said.
Citing an example what India can do, Modi said before the Covid-19 pandemic, the country was not making N-95 masks, PPE and ventilators, but now it is in a position to export such items.
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