India on the move, it’s world’s fastest growing economy: PM

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday asserted that India is the fastest growing economy in the world. “India is on the move, our economy is on the move, we are the world’s fastest-growing major economy,” PM Modi said that Niti Aayog’s first-ever global mobility summit – MOVE – that he inaugurated earlier in the day.
Our youth are on the MOVE. We are fast emerging as the start-up hub of the world. India is moving ahead with new energy, urgency, and purpose,” he said.
“Our cities and towns are on the move, we are building 100 smart cities. We are building infrastructure at a quick pace. Our services have picked up the pace, we have made India a better place to do business,” he added.
Speaking at the summit, he emphasised on the need for and importance of mobility. “Mobility is a key driver of the economy. Better mobility reduces the burden of travel and transportation and can boost economic growth. It is already a major employer and can create the next generation of jobs,” he said.
He also said that his vision for the future of mobility in India is based on 7 Cs. These are, he said: “Common, Connected, Convenient, Congestion-free, Charged, Clean, Cutting-edge.”
Focussing on the different aspects of mobility, he said: “Connected mobility implies integration of geographies as well as modes of transport. The Internet-enabled Connected Sharing Economy is emerging as the fulcrum of mobility. We must leverage the full potential for vehicle pooling to improve private vehicle utilization.”
He urged the business leaders present at the summit to pay heed to ensure that public transport is preferred over private modes of travel in the times to come. “Common Public Transport must be the cornerstone of our mobility initiatives. New business models driven by digitization, are reinventing the existing paradigm. Our focus must also go beyond cars, to other vehicles such as scooters and rickshaws,” he said adding that such an ecosystem should be created in which people from villages are able to bring their produce to the cities with ease and convenience.
He added that India should champion the idea of clean kilometres and focus on pollution-free clean drive. “Clean Mobility powered by Clean Energy is our most powerful weapon in our fight against Climate Change. This means a pollution-free clean drive, leading to clean air and better living standards for our people. We should champion the idea of ‘clean kilometres,” he said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Kashmir Monitor staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)