Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said that India will be one of the top three economies of the world a few years from now. He was speaking at a programme organised at Science City, Ahmedabad, to celebrate 20 years of Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit.
The next edition of the biennial summit which sees the participation of business houses, businessmen and decision-makers from India and abroad will be held from January 10 to 12, 2024 at Mahatma Mandir, Gandhinagar. The event is organised by the Gujarat Government.
"When the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit completes 40 years, India will be near centenary celebrations," Modi remarked, adding that the next 20 years are more crucial. "This is the time that India will have to prepare a roadmap that will enable India to become a developed nation by 2047."
"It is Modi’s guarantee. India will be in the top three economies of the world in a few years," the Prime Minister said.
Modi said he had then envisaged Gujarat becoming the growth engine of India during his stint as the chief minister of the state. "In 2014, I got an opportunity to serve the Nation. The vision expanded and now I want to see India becoming a growth engine for the world," he said.
He also remembered the "difficult times" in which the Gujarat Global Vibrant Summits were being held. Without naming the UPA, he said the government tried to create hurdles and foreign investors were threatened against coming to Gujarat. "Despite all this, the investors came," Modi said, pointing out that they "weren’t given any special incentives but it is the policy and governance transparency that brought them to Gujarat."
Modi became emotional as he recalled his tenure as the chief minister. "I had become a first-time MLA and had no experience of governance," he said. "What began in 2003 from Tagore Hall in Ahmedabad with about 300 delegates now has participation from over 135 countries, over 2000 exhibitors and 40,000 delegates from India and the world over."
"In 2001, thousands of people lost their lives in the earthquake and lakhs were affected and had to leave their homes. There was a financial crisis as the Madhavpura Mercantile Cooperative Bank had collapsed then and as a result, 133 other banks were also affected," the PM said.
The PM also mentioned the Godhra carnage of 2002 and the riots that ensued thereafter. He mentioned that in 2009, even his officers had advised him to cancel the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit as the world was facing recession. "Many believed that the youth will go away from Gujarat, the industries will be affected and Gujarat will become a burden on the nation," he said. "I had unflinching faith in Gujarat and its people," the Prime Minister said, adding that he had vowed to take Gujarat out of this situation.
Modi also has engagements in Central Gujarat.