Industry reforms will continue in our 3rd term also, says FM

New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday exuded confidence that India Inc will align itself to the developmental goals of the nation with an objective of making the country a developed nation or 'Viksit Bharat' by 2047 on the 100th anniversary of independence.

Sitharaman said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has clearly indicated that the goal of Viksit Bharat is to be attained to provide the future generations a better India. Addressing a session on 'Viksit Bharat @ 2047: Viksit Bharat & industry', organised by Ficci, the minister said that industry's role is critical in achieving the goal by 2047.

"You were with India during the freedom struggle, you built industry and capacity despite the colonial pressure...So Indian industry has always kept that spirit up and against terrible odds kept moving along on national interest. "I can't see how they will be left out in this game of building a developed India by 2047. So it should be natural to India's industry to align itself with India's developmental interests, and after all industry will be the first contributor as much as the first beneficiary...," the minister said.

The finance minister also assured the industry that reforms will continue in the third term of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government. The new government will be formed after the general elections due in April-May and the BJP is confident that Prime Minister Modi will return to power with a greater majority.

Sitharaman said that India has moved up to become the fifth largest economy and is on the way to become the third largest global economy. Even after Covid, she emphasised that the government showed its commitment by ramping up capital expenditure. Indian industry can now surely move forward with a great speed globally as investments are coming in. It is time for the Indian industry to also capitalise, the finance minister said.

She said that several reforms were undertaken by the government during the last 10 years and the trend will continue. She said that the reforms to be undertaken by the next Modi government will touch on factors of production. The minister further said today, without digital infrastructure, no country can move at a pace at which it wants to achieve developmental goals for its own citizens. India, she said, has shown how making investment in creating the digital infrastructure at the bottom, and scaling it up, led to creation of 'India Stack'.