India Will Become Engine Of Global Growth As Reform Express Gains Speed: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday asserted that India will emerge as an engine of global growth, building its own development model as the country’s Reform Express gathers momentum.

Addressing the ET Now Global Business Summit 2026, he said the Union government is accelerating economic reforms not out of compulsion but conviction, seeking to transform the ecosystem for the benefit of the masses and achieve the goal of a Viksit Bharat (Developed India).

PM Modi noted that faster decision-making has driven the rapid expansion of highways and railways. He added that reforms have taken place both within and outside the Union Budget.

The Prime Minister said this year’s Union Budget has advanced reforms further, with a strong focus on capital expenditure and technology.

“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,” PM Modi asserted.

He emphasised that the Budget stresses not only outlays but also outcomes.

Referring to infrastructure delivery, PM Modi said earlier announcements covered railway and highway projects, but progress stalled. He added that after 2014, the speed of completion changed markedly.

Outside the Budget, GST and labour reforms also benefit citizens.

Highlighting digital transformation, he 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,” he further remarked.

PM Modi said India made its development vision clear in the founding document of NITI Aayog in 2015. He said India decided not to import any development model.

The Prime Minister noted that his government has signed free trade agreements with 38 developed countries, contrasting it with the four comprehensive trade deals concluded before 2014 under the UPA regime.

He attributed the earlier gap to policy paralysis and scams, adding that India’s manufacturing base was weak before 2014.

“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.

PM Modi further asserted, “India will drive the world’s growth. India will become the engine of the world’s growth. The world is moving towards a new world order.”

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