Modi exhorts industry to ramp up investments

New Delhi: Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday urged industry leaders to step up investments, embrace emerging technologies and prioritise research to leverage the vast opportunities offered by free trade agreements with various nations.

Addressing the second webinar on Budget 2026-27, the Prime Minister said, the world is now looking for reliable and resilient manufacturing partners, and India has the opportunity to play this role decisively and enhance the country's participation in the global supply chain.

For this, he said, "all stakeholders must invest with confidence, adopt new technologies, and significantly increase investment in research - those days of being frugal in research are over. We must ensure quality in line with global standards.

As I often say, when opportunities arise to move ahead, we must have only one mantra -- Quality, Quality, Quality."

Stressing that India has entered into free trade agreements with numerous countries, he said, these agreements have opened up a wide range of opportunities for the country. "In such a situation, he said, "our responsibility is that we should never compromise on quality. If there is one area where we must apply maximum strength, intelligence, and focus, it is quality.