Bold Reforms, Massive Infra, Best Talent Vital to Build 'New India': PM Modi Narendra Modi on Wednesday inaugurated 'Invest Karnataka 2022' (November 2-4), which aims to attract prospective investors and set up Karnataka's development plan for the next decade

Building a 'new India' is possible only with bold reforms, massive infrastructure and the best of talent, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday in his virtual inaugural address at a global investors meet in Bengaluru, Karnataka.

Modi counted the introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST), Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), banking reforms, and Unified Payments Interface (UPI), as well as the abolition of 1,500 outdated laws and 40,000 unnecessary compliances among the key economic reforms initiated by his government.

The 'Invest Karnataka 2022' (November 2-4) is a three-day programme aimed at attracting prospective investors and setting up a development plan for Karnataka for the next decade. The meeting will witness over 80 speakers, including industry leaders such as Kumar Mangalam Birla, Sajjan Jindal and Vikram Kirloskar. Partner countries, comprising France, Germany, Netherlands, South Korea, Japan and Australia, will each host sessions for ministerial and industrial delegations.

"These are uncertain times; still most of the nations are convinced about the fundamentals of the Indian economy. India could assure the world about the supply of medicines and vaccines in the period of the disrupted supply chain. Despite a climate of market saturation, our domestic markets are strong due to the aspirations of our citizens," said Modi.

He also said steps such as the decriminalisation of many company law provisions, faceless assessment, new avenues for FDI, as well as the liberalisation of drone rules and geospatial, space and defence sectors are bringing unprecedented investor interest in the country.

In his address, PM Modi observed that Karnataka continues to maintain its place among top rankers concerning the ease of doing business and credited this to its inclusion in the list of top states in terms of foreign direct investment (FDI). "Four hundred of the Fortune 500 companies are here and out of 100 plus unicorns of India, more than 40 are in Karnataka," he said.

Karnataka is the largest technology cluster in the world today, being home to industry, information technology, fintech, biotech, startups as well as sustainable energy, noted Modi.

Highlighting that India is entering a new phase of the manufacturing domain, the Prime Minister mentioned the National Semiconductor Mission and claimed that the tech ecosystem in the country would take chip design and manufacturing to new heights.

Noting the progress being made in nano urea, hydrogen energy, green ammonia, coal gasification and space satellites, Modi underlined that the nation today is moving ahead with the mantra of development of the world.

India has set a target of becoming a developed nation by 2047, stated Modi.