Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke at the 3rd Annual Bloomberg New Economy Forum yesterday, inviting investors to invest in India’s upcoming urban centres. Elaborating on the difficulties that have arisen due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he said that this phase was an opportunity to learn from the historic reconstruction effort that took place after both World Wars and to “develop new protocols in every field”.
Delivering his speech via video conference, PM Modi said that the several challenges posed by the pandemic have proved that the cities are “our growth engines”, but also “our vulnerable zones”, and, in order to build “resilient systems for the future… a good starting point would be the rejuvenation” of our urban zones. Currently, 31% of India’s 1.3 billion population currently lives in urban cities, and this migration from rural areas in search of jobs has put a strain on already struggling public amenities like housing, clean drinking water and public transport. Referring to the plight of policymakers who are currently posed with the difficult challenge of accommodating large migration to cities, PM Modi in this regard also said that restarting of the post-COVID world economy will also essentially require a “reset of the mindset”. Further articulating on the advantages of developing robust urban centres, PM Modi said,v“The pandemic has re-emphasised that our biggest resource, as societies and as businesses, is our people. The post-Covid world has to be built by nurturing this key and fundamental resource.”
Furthermore, he said that majority of the infrastructure development is happening under the ‘Make in India’ programme, which has “led to the development of tremendous indigenous capacity of production of transportation systems” and is going to accelerate India’s “sustainable transport goals in a big way”. The Indian PM also highlighted other recent initiatives undertaken by the Central government such as Digital India, Startup India, affordable housing, Real Estate (Regulation) Act and Metro Rail in 27 cities.
“We are on track to deliver close to 1,000 km of Metro Rail system in the country by 2022,” he said. Without explaining the process, PM Modi said that “We have also selected 100 Smart Cities through a two-stage process”. He informed investors in the forum that these cities have prepared projects worth around INR 2 lakh crore (US$30 billion). “And projects worth almost INR1,40,000 crore (US$20 billion) have been completed or nearing completion”.
One of the core components of the Smart Cities programme is bolstering India’s technological capacity and capabilities, and the growing importance of technology was recognized by Modi when he said that “technology helped us continue our work during the pandemic” and deemed it necessary to empower people with the ability to live and work from anywhere. He added that his administration has announced simplified guidelines for technology and knowledge-enabled services sector to carry out this vision.
Lastly, he invited investors to invest in Indian urban centres to drive economic and job growth, innovation, advertising India is a “vibrant democracy” with “a business-friendly climate and a huge market” that guarantees “exciting opportunities” for investing in urbanization, mobility, innovation, and sustainable solutions. In order to incentivize increased investment, without providing details, Modi said that the Indian government “shall leave no stone unturned to make India a preferred global investment destination”.
The Bloomberg New Economy Forum, established in 2018, aims to serve as an international forum for world leaders to participate in the “transformation of Indian cities”. The forum was launched in Singapore and the 2019 forum was held in Beijing.
PM Modi Promises 1000 km of Metro Rail Connecting 100 Smart Cities by 2022
As India rebuilds its economy, PM Modi has invited investors to invest in connecting urban centres through metro rail.
November 18, 2020
SOURCE: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg