He called himself a humble 'chaiwala' and said that the Indian economy became the fifth largest in the world in eight years after he assumed the office of the Prime Minister in 2014, according to the news agency PTI.
Addressing a public rally in poll-bound Gujarat's Rajkot as a part of the BJP campaign for the upcoming State Assembly elections in early December, Prime Minister Modi compared his performance with former PM Manmohan Singh's tenure of ten years.
"Before I assumed the office of the prime minister in 2014, the Congress had been in power for 10 years. When Congress first came to power in 2004, a renowned economist (Manmohan Singh) was our PM and the Indian economy ranked 11th in the world," PM Modi said.
He added, "In the subsequent years, though whatever they did, the Indian economy became the tenth largest. So, it took ten years for India to become number 10 from number 11."
PM Modi also said that he never claimed to be an economist but he believed in the strength of the citizens of the country, as per PTI reports.
"You gave reins to a 'chaiwala' (tea seller) in 2014. I never claimed I am an economist. But, I have confidence in the strength of the citizens. In the last eight years, India became the fifth largest economy from the tenth spot (before 2014)," he stated.
"So just compare. Ten years to become number 10 from the 11th rank (during Congress' rule), and eight years to reach the fifth spot from the 10th position (under the BJP government)," the Prime Minister further said.
The PM said India has broken all the records of exports after Independence and the country has become a favorite destination for investors, PTI reported.
Earlier, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman informed that India has emerged as one of the fastest-growing major economies in the world and is expected to be one of the top three economies globally over the next 10-15 years.
The Indian economy has recently surpassed the UK to become the fifth-largest economy in the world, she said.
Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran had also said that Indian economy is expected to maintain the trend growth rate of 6.5 per cent and above for the rest of the years in the current decade.
(With PTI inputs)
