Speaking at a Tuesday address, Prime Minister Narendra Modi put forward the position that India could serve as a dependable and steady partner for others navigating an unsettled global environment, and urged that advances in technology, innovation, and economic capacity be directed toward broadening opportunities and lifting people across nations.
At the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in New Delhi — making its India debut — Modi put forward a framework he called "Power to Empower," centring his remarks on cooperation, broad-based growth, and the transfer of capabilities between nations, before posing the question of who actually holds power. He posed the question of whether advances in technology and knowledge would serve only a narrow group or open doors for far greater numbers of people.
Speaking at the forum, Modi outlined a global landscape shaped by successive disruptions — from the pandemic through armed conflicts in various regions to growing pressure on supply chains, raw material access, and energy flows. He noted that logistics networks, financial infrastructure, and technology were being drawn into use as tools of leverage and control.
Automation driven by artificial intelligence has been reshaping how numerous industries operate, while the growing proportion of older adults in many populations presents an ongoing economic pressure that governments and planners are working to address. He went on to note that, given this environment, nations were seeking partners capable of holding to supply commitments and offering reliable backing when difficulties arose, before adding through a direct statement that growth had not come at any other country's expense. The prime minister conveyed that the country's path forward runs alongside global progress, not apart from it.
GDP expansion of 7.8 percent during the April-to-June period was among the figures Modi put forward when addressing the country's economic standing. From a peak above 4% of GDP roughly a dozen years back, the current account deficit narrowed to just 0.61% in the most recent annual figures, a period during which foreign exchange reserves climbed past the $700 billion mark.
Sovereign rating upgrades were tied to the country's broader economic performance, while the banking sector was portrayed as holding its most resilient footing in a generation. Addressing reporters, Modi indicated that policy direction remained consistent and that the reform process was ongoing.
Among the specific measures he pointed to were the introduction of a unified national market through GST, new insolvency legislation, the consolidation of 29 separate labour laws into four streamlined codes, and the removal of criminal penalties attached to hundreds of minor business offences — adding, through a direct quotation, that for his administration, undertaking such reforms was a matter of choice rather than necessity. He described reform as a matter of deep personal and political commitment.
Cheap mobile data plans and broader digital connectivity were put forward by the prime minister as illustrations of how technology can open up pathways to learning, consumer markets, and workplace skills. Modi told the gathering that rural shopkeepers, students in small towns, and young people across the country stood to benefit from digital connectivity — whether through reaching wider markets, tapping into online learning platforms, or enrolling in remote courses.
Pointing to street vendors and large car showrooms as proof that the payment rails function across vastly different transaction volumes, he urged visiting delegates to explore India's digital payments infrastructure firsthand. Modi stated that the country was making its Digital Public Infrastructure knowledge available to nations across the Global South and other partner states, with the goal of helping each tailor governance systems to their own circumstances. During his remarks, he brought up the CoWIN platform — built on open-source foundations and put into use over the course of the pandemic.
Addressing the topic of entrepreneurship, the prime minister noted that India's startup count had climbed to more than 2.5 lakh, a figure he contrasted with the few hundred ventures that existed before 2014. Roughly half of the group traced their roots to smaller cities and towns, and women held a director or partner role in just over 45% of the firms.
During his address, Modi drew attention to how technology frameworks — specifically the JAM Trinity and the Direct Benefit Transfer mechanism — have been deployed to channel government assistance to recipients. Direct transfers into beneficiaries' bank accounts were pointed to by him as a tool for reducing corruption and broadening access to the programme. He contended that roughly 250 million people had been lifted out of poverty over the preceding ten years, and went on to make the case that the role of governing bodies should be to build the capacity of citizens rather than foster reliance on the state.
Drawing on the nation's own capacities, the prime minister set out how those strengths feed into India's broader role on the world stage. Vaccine shipments reached over 100 nations through efforts attributed to him during the period of the global health crisis. Pointing to the AI Impact Summit held in India earlier in the year — where conversations ranged across uses that serve both humans and animals — Modi noted that the country supplies roughly one in every five generic medicines available globally to markets in need of affordable treatments.
Over 2,000 Global Capability Centres operating across India were noted as serving businesses around the world, with the country's digital frameworks and workforce of young trained professionals meeting demand from abroad.
Addressing climate commitments, Modi noted that a benchmark of drawing 40% of total installed electricity capacity from non-fossil fuel sources had been crossed by India in November 2021 — roughly nine years before the 2030 deadline set for that goal. India was noted as the first among G20 nations to have achieved that particular threshold. Installed renewable energy capacity stood at roughly 75 gigawatts in 2014 and had climbed to about 300 gigawatts by the time he spoke, a fourfold expansion over that period.
Two government-backed programmes — PM Surya Ghar, aimed at residential electricity users, and PM-KUSUM, directed at the farming sector — were presented by Modi as pathways for bringing solar energy access to both homes and agricultural land. Taken together, the programmes had brought over 30 gigawatts of solar generation capacity online and were projected to cut yearly carbon output by upwards of three crore tonnes, according to him.
Among the programmes the prime minister put forward as models for collective gain were the International Solar Alliance, the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, the Big Cat Alliance, the Global Biofuel Alliance, the India–Middle East–Europe Economic Corridor, and Mission LiFE — each framed as a vehicle for broadly distributed outcomes. Three slogans — "One Sun, One World, One Grid," "One Earth, One Family, One Future," and "One Earth, One Health" — were invoked by him as expressions of a broader commitment to cooperative engagement.
Modi put forward the characterisation of India as the "Mother of Democracy" while drawing attention to the country's range of languages and the variety of its media outlets. The statement pointed to a country where more than 100 languages are spoken, roughly 80,000 newspapers and publications hold registered status, upwards of 1,000 channels broadcast via satellite television, and both YouTube and Instagram each draw user bases exceeding 50 crore people.
In his opening address to delegates, Modi expressed gratitude to Bloomberg for choosing India as the forum's host. Closing his address with a Vedic invocation centred on collective progress, open dialogue, and shared understanding, Modi put a direct question to those assembled: whether the power and resources they command could be directed toward expanding access for others and confronting challenges that cross national boundaries.
