Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said India would in the next few years emerge as the world’s third largest economy as the government is working to make the country a global growth engine and economic powerhouse of the world.
Mr. Modi said this while speaking at an event to mark the completion of 20 years of the Vibrant Gujarat Summit, the State’s flagship event to showcase it as a hub of industry, which was launched by Mr. Modi, the then Chief Minister, in 2003.
He presided over the celebration at an event at the Science City in Ahmedabad in the presence of corporate leaders, State Government officials, and others.
He said his government in the State had sown a small seed of ‘Vibrant Gujarat’ 20 years ago, which had developed into a big tree.
“We organised Vibrant Gujarat to make the State a growth engine of India. After 2014, our aim has been to make India a global growth engine,” he said in his address.
He contended that after the summit, the State had become the preferred destination for investments from India as well as the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), which has transformed Gujarat and its economy.
“We are standing at such a phase that India will soon emerge as a global economic powerhouse,” he said, adding, “It is my guarantee to you that in a few years from now, in front of your eyes, India will be among the top three economies of the world.”
While recalling the success of the Vibrant Gujarat summit, Mr. Modi also mentioned the “indifferent” United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government from 2004 to 2014 which, he claimed, had even threatened foreign companies that were keen to come to Gujarat.
“When Vibrant Gujarat was started, there were no big hotels in Gujarat where foreign guests could stay. Even government guesthouses used to get full, and we used even university guesthouses for the guests,” he said.
“We not only did redevelopment of Gujarat but also thought about its future. We made ‘Vibrant Gujarat’ a key channel for this. ‘Vibrant Gujarat’ was made a channel to increase the self-confidence of Gujarat,” Mr. Modi said.
Quoting Swami Vivekananda, he said, “Swami Vivekananda said every work goes through three stages — first, it is mocked; later, it faces opposition; and finally, accepted,” suggesting that first the Centre and other governments mocked the summit, and subsequently all State Governments replicated it.
In Vadodara, Mr. Modi alleged that Opposition parties had stalled the women’s reservation Bill for three decades, and were now trying to divide women on the lines of caste and religion when the Bill had been passed.
He addressed a gathering of women, organised by the ruling BJP in the State.
