New Delhi, Oct 13: Prime Minister NarendraModi on Tuesday called for using technology, data, knowledge, and innovation to empower people rather than concentrate power in the hands of a few, saying India’s growth should create opportunities for the world.
Addressing the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in New Delhi, being held in India for the first time, PM Modi said the real question was not who possessed power but how it was used.
“Today, Technology is Power, Data is Power, Knowledge is Power, Innovation is Power,” he said. “But friends, the real question is not who possesses power. Rather, the question is how that power is being used.”
Emphasising his vision of inclusive growth, the PM said: “Beyond Power to Control lies Power to Enable. Beyond Power to Compete lies Power to Collaborate. Beyond Power to Succeed lies Power to Help Others Succeed. And therefore, the vision with which I have come here today is: Power to Empower.”
He said India had sought to put this philosophy into practice through digital connectivity, affordable mobile data, digital payments and innovation.
PM Modi said that these initiatives had expanded access to opportunities for students, small traders and young people, including those in smaller towns and villages.
“Connectivity in India has not merely connected people; it has connected opportunities as well. This, indeed, is Power to Empower,” he said.
Highlighting India’s startup ecosystem, the PM said the country had more than 2.50 lakh startups, compared with only a few hundred before 2014.
He said nearly half of these startups came from small cities and towns, while more than 45 percent had at least one woman director or partner.
PM Modi also underlined the role of technology in governance, citing the JAM Trinity and Direct Benefit Transfer system, which enables government assistance to reach beneficiaries directly through their bank accounts.
“The government possesses authority, but its purpose should not be to make citizens dependent on the system. Rather, its objective should be to ensure that citizens become capable and empowered,” he said.
The PM said that India had lifted 25 crore people out of poverty over the past decade.
India’s role in a changing world
He said the world was facing growing uncertainty due to wars, disruptions in trade, shortages of critical minerals and energy supplies, and rapid technological change.
“Supply chains, energy, minerals, payment systems, and technology are increasingly becoming instruments of pressure and dominance,” PM Modi said, warning that routes created by globalisation had, in many cases, become chokepoints.
In such circumstances, he said, trust had become a fundamental requirement, including confidence that supplies would continue during a crisis and partner countries would stand by one another.
“We do not grow at anyone’s cost. We grow with the world, and for the world,” the PM said.
He cited India’s contribution to global healthcare, digital public infrastructure, and skilled manpower, noting that one in every five generic medicines used worldwide came from India and that the country hosted more than 2,000 Global Capability Centres serving companies across the world.
PM Modi also said India shared its digital capabilities with other countries, particularly those in the Global South.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, India supplied vaccines to more than 100 countries, he said.
On climate change, the PM said India had achieved its target of sourcing 40 percent of installed electricity capacity from non-fossil fuel sources in November 2021, nine years ahead of its 2030 deadline under the Paris Agreement.
He said India’s renewable energy capacity had risen from around 75 gigawatts in 2014 to approximately 300 gigawatts.
Referring to the PM Surya Ghar and PM-KUSUM schemes, PM Modi said they were helping households and farmers generate solar power, reduce costs, and contribute to lower carbon emissions.
He also highlighted India’s economic performance, stating that the economy had grown by 7.8 percent in the April-June quarter.
The PM said foreign exchange reserves exceeded USD 700 billion, while the current account deficit had fallen to 0.61 percent of GDP in the previous year.
Listing reforms undertaken by the government, he referred to the Goods and Services Tax (GST), the Insolvency and Bankruptcy framework, the consolidation of 29 labour laws into four labour codes and the decriminalisation of hundreds of minor business-related offences.
“For us, reforms are not a compulsion. Reforms are our conviction,” PM Modi said.
He called for greater international cooperation to address challenges like climate change, water governance, public health, and the responsible use of emerging technologies.
“Power is not just the ability to move ahead. It is also the ability to empower others to move ahead,” the PM said, adding that competition was important but compassion was equally necessary and the benefits of innovation should be widely shared.
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