 "PM Modi, inauguration of the redeveloped International Exhibition-cum-Convention Centre (IECC) complex at Pragati Maidan")
Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi on Wednesday said that India would be among the top three economies in the world in his third term, the leitmotif of which would be to achieve rapid progress, eradicate poverty, and transform India into a developed and prosperous nation within the next 25 years.
Inaugurating the International Exhibition-cum-Convention Centre complex, now renamed Bharat Mandapam, the PM highlighted the “revolutionary infrastructure development” that hallmarked his two terms in office.
Bharat Mandapam, constructed at a cost of Rs. 2,254 crore over 123 acres in the heart of the national Capital in Pragati Maidan, is scheduled to host the Group of Twenty Summit in September.
Modi, who will complete his second term as PM in May 2024, said people would see their dreams become reality in his third term.
“It is ‘Modi's guarantee’ that India will be one of the world’s three largest economies in the third term,” the PM said, in a jibe at the Congress that has since the Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections in December 2022 and most recently in Karnataka in April, promised its social welfare schemes as its “guarantees” to voters.
Modi said his government had focused on providing “permanent solutions”, in which the PM GatiShakti masterplan would become a game-changer.
He asserted that India was currently experiencing a momentous phase of construction, with Rs. 34 trillion already invested in building modern infrastructure. Additionally, Rs. 10 trillion from this year’s Budget has been allocated for capital expenditure, aiming to construct new airports, expressways, bridges, and hospitals.
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Several prominent figures, including Kotak Mahindra Bank Chief Executive Officer Uday Kotak, Aditya Birla Group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla, Tata Steel Managing Director T V Narendran, Reliance Jio Chairman Akash Ambani, ITC Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) Sanjiv Puri, CMD of Medanta — The Medicity Dr Naresh Trehan, and actor Aamir Khan, attended the inauguration.
Modi reiterated his track record of accomplishments, citing India’s ascent from the 10th largest economy in 2014 to the current rank of fifth in the world, behind the US, China, Germany, and Japan.
“We will make India a developed nation working on the principle of nation first, citizen first,” he said.
The PM detailed the scale of development accomplished in the past nine years, from 70 airports constructed over the previous 70 years to nearly 150 now, doubling the railway lines electrified or expanding the city gas supply.
He said his government had adopted a holistic approach towards development, and the convention centre would showcase India’s progress, from economy and ecology to trade and technology.
He pointed out the recent expansion in the hospitality industry, the construction of a new Parliament, national war and police memorials, the Prime Ministers’ museum, and the upcoming world’s biggest Yuge Yugeen Bharat museum, all in Delhi-National Capital Region.
Modi asserted that the people of India now have confidence in the unstoppable nature of the country’s development journey. He encouraged India to “think big, dream big, and act big” to rise high like the sky.
The PM also highlighted India’s progress in eradicating extreme poverty, citing NITI Aayog’s recent multi-dimensional poverty index, which showed that the country lifted 135 million people out of poverty. He affirmed that the policies of the past nine years, based on the philosophy of “nation first, citizens first”, were leading the country in the right direction.
The PM criticised the pessimists who questioned the Kartavya Path initiative and the construction of the convention centre. Stressing the increasing profile of India, he argued that a world-class 21st-century convention centre was essential for the country.
Earlier in the day, Modi performed pooja at the redeveloped complex, interacted with the workers involved in its construction, and felicitated them. He also paid tribute to the martyrs of the Kargil War.
He likened the current juncture of India’s economic development in the third decade of the 21st century to the significance of the country's third decade a 100 years ago. He drew a parallel between the efforts of freedom fighters of the past, with various ideologies, contributing to India’s Independence and the current collective effort of 1.4 billion Indians to push the nation towards becoming a developed nation within the next 25 years. While swaraj (self-rule) was the objective aim back then, building a prosperous and developed India is the current objective.
