New Delhi, Feb 13 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that India will be an engine of global growth and build its own development model as the country’s Reform Express is gathering further momentum.

Addressing the ET Now Global Business Summit 2026 here, the Prime Minister said the Union government was accelerating the process of economic reforms not out of compulsion but because of its conviction to change the ecosystem to benefit the masses and achieve a ‘Viksit Bharat’ (Developed India).

He highlighted that the decision making process had been expedited as result of which there has been a rapid development of highways and railways across the country.

These reforms have been undertaken both within and outside the Union Budget, the Prime Minister said.

Prime Minister Modi added that this year’s Union Budget has taken the reform process further with its focus on capex and tech.

“The Union Budget has given a big push to big infrastructure projects with the sharp increase in capex, which has a multiplier effect in promoting growth and creating more jobs in the economy. It also focuses on the biopharma, AI and semiconductor sectors.”

The Prime Minister said that as part of the reforms, the emphasis in the Budget “is not only on outlays but also on outcomes”.

“Earlier projects in the railways and highway sectors were announced but they were not implemented. After 2014, there has been a marked change in the speed with which the projects are being completed.”

“Outside the Budget, the GST reforms and labour reforms have been implemented to benefit the people,” PM Modi added.

He also said: “The one Indian reform that has taken the world by storm in the past decade is UPI. It’s not just an app; it’s a testament to the remarkable convergence of policy, process, and delivery. UPI is reaching citizens who could never have imagined getting the benefits of banking and finance. This reform wasn’t done out of compulsion. It was our conviction. The conviction was the inclusion of citizens to whom the previous governments had not reached.”

“Jise koi nahi poochhta, use Modi poojta hai,” the Prime Minister remarked.

PM Modi said: “Every nation is now realising that it has to build its own resilience. What the world is discussing today, India had made its policy in 2015 itself. India had made its vision clear in the founding document of ‘Niti Aayog’, that India will not import even a single development model from any other nation.”

PM Modi noted that his government has signed free trade agreements with 38 developed countries while in sharp contrast before 2014, the UPA government was able to conclude comprehensive trade deals with only four countries.

He said that these agreements could not happen during the UPA regime because the country was hit by policy paralysis and there were scams all around.

“Before 2014, India’s manufacturing base was also very weak. As a result no one could trust India,” he added.

“Today, we are signing trade deals with the world because India is now filled with self-confidence. India is stronger today, and that is why the world also trusts us,” he said.

“India will drive the world’s growth. India will become the engine of world’s growth. The world is moving towards a new world order. The system established then was based on the idea of ‘one size fits all’. It was then assumed that the world economy would be at the core. In this system, nations were viewed solely as contributors. But today, this model is being challenged,” the Prime Minister added.

–IANS

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