Pitching India as a darling for multinational investors, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said half a billion people in the country have already been connected to the internet and another half awaits the same, presenting an opportunity for companies to expand into a large market. He said the option to invest in India is extensive in ‘frontier technologies’ like 5G, big data analytics, blockchain, quantum computing, and the Internet of Things (IoT).
Speaking at the India Ideas Summit organised by U.S.-India Business Council, PM Modi said that his government has made efforts to make India’s economy more open and reform-oriented. “Reforms have ensured increased competitiveness, enhanced transparency, expanded digitization, greater innovation and more policy stability,” he said.
#LIVE | During the last six years, we have made many efforts to make our economy more open and reform-oriented. Reforms have ensured increased competitiveness, enhanced transparency, expanded digitization, greater innovation and more Policy stability: PM pic.twitter.com/Ww6NecrH6n
— Republic (@republic) July 22, 2020
The PM asserted that India is emerging as a land of opportunities and gave the example of the lucrative tech sector. He said, “Recently, an interesting report came out in India. It said for the first time ever, there are more rural internet users than even urban internet users. Imagine the scale! There are now half a billion connected people. Does this sound huge? Hold your breath because there are over half a billion more people who are being connected.”
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Scope for investment in health sector
During his address, PM Modi also pointed out the scope for investment in the health sector, growing faster than 22% yearly. The civil aviation and space sector found special mention in his speech. Referring to the huge opportunities in both these areas, he also noted the tremendous potential of the insurance industry in India. He informed the US investors that there were plenty of untapped opportunities to increase the insurance cover in various sectors such as finance, agriculture and healthcare. Elaborating on the largest infrastructure creation drive in the country, he invited investment in the ‘Housing for all’ scheme, road construction, highways and ports.
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