PM Narendra Modi interacts with leading economists on charting economic agenda for post COVID world

Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with India's leading economists on charting the economic agenda in the post covid world. The interaction was organised by the NITI Aayog on Friday. All the attendants agreed that high-frequency indicators are showing signs of a strong economic recovery and that too earlier than expected.

NITI Aayog in a tweet said, "PM @narendramodi, in his interaction with India's leading economists, shed light on the economic potential set to be unleashed by the National Optical Fibre Network, providing internet connectivity to some of India's most remote areas. #AatmaNirbharBharat

Prime Minister Modi appreciated the inputs received from the participants and highlighted the crucial role such interactions played in setting the national development agenda. He highlighted how the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent management threw up new professional challenges for all those involved. Mr Modi underlined that together with a fiscal stimulus, the government also tried reform based stimulus, which was seen through historic reforms in agriculture, commercial coal mining and labour laws.

The Prime Minister explained his vision behind an Atmanirbhar Bharat, where Indian companies are integrated into global supply chains in a manner not seen before. He underscored the faith shown by foreign investors in India's growth story, with foreign direct investment growing by 11 per cent between April and October, despite a global recession. Mr Modi highlighted the economic potential set to be unleashed by the National Optical Fibre Network, providing internet connectivity to some of India's most remote areas.

On infrastructure, the Prime Minister highlighted the National Infrastructure Pipeline as the government's commitment to developing world-class infrastructure. The Prime Minister stated the importance of partnerships in achieving the goals and that such consultations play a crucial role in setting the broader economic agenda.

The attendants were broadly in agreement that next year will see robust growth and suggested measures to maintain this growth rate to drive India's socio-economic transformation. The participants stressed the importance of investing in public health and education, as human capital would also likely emerge as a driver of growth, especially in the knowledge economy going forward. They also stressed on labour-intensive manufacturing given the success India has achieved in launching the production linked incentives (PLI) scheme in mobile manufacturing.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur, Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar and Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant and other officials also attended the meeting along with leading economists of the country.