India has set new model of infra development, says PM Narendra Modi

PM Modi said there is unbelievable faith in India for the next 25 years

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said India has set a new model for physical and social sector infrastructure development for the world and that India’s prosperity will lead to global prosperity. 

Modi said there is unbelievable faith in India for the next 25 years. 

“Today, in India’s prosperity there is global prosperity; and in India’s growth there is world’s growth,” he said at the Economic Times Global Business Summit.

Giving the example of progress made on digital infrastructure, Modi said in the last nine years, the government has laid more than 600,000 kilometres of optical fibre.

"In last nine years, there has been a many-fold increase in mobile manufacturing units. The cost of internet data has declined by 25 times, making it the cheapest in the world. As a result, in 2012, India used to contribute 2 per cent of global mobile data traffic, while the Western markets contributed 75 per cent. In 2022, India’s share has increased to 21 per cent while North America and Europe together are left with only one-fourth share. Today, India carries out 40 per cent of the world's digital transactions," he added.

Modi said his government has reimagined and replaced the government-first mentality with a people-first approach. "Earlier, there was mutual distrust between the government and citizens. Trusting people has been our mantra," he added.

Giving the example of tax collections, Modi said in 2013-14, the country’s gross tax revenue was around Rs 11 trillion whereas in 2023-24, it has been estimated to increase threefold to around Rs 33 trillion. "This has happened when we have decreased the tax rate," he added.

Modi said the income tax department has processed 65 million returns out of which 30 million returns have been processed in 24 hours and money refunded. "For the same work, it used to take around 90 days," he added.