The BJP government will take "even bigger decisions" in its third term, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on February 9, exuding confidence in the upcoming elections, adding that a 'roadmap' on the work to be done will be finalised in the next 20-30 days.
"In the third term, there will be even bigger decisions. To eradicate poverty and to give new speed to India's development, I have been working on new schemes for the last one-and-a-half years," the Prime Minister said on February 9 while speaking at the ET Now Global Business Summit 2024.
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"I am making a complete roadmap about what work will be done in which area. I have sought suggestions from more than 15 lakh people for this. I have not released a press note on this; this is the first time I am talking about it. Work is ongoing and in the next 20-30 days this roadmap will be finalised. New India will work at 'super speed'. And this is Modi's guarantee," he added.
The government is preparing a 'vision document' for India to become a developed economy of about $30 trillion by 2047.
The Prime Minister’s comments come ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, which are expected to be held in April-May, with the Election Commission of India yet to announce the dates.
Modi said that 10 years of his government had done more work than the previous 70 years combined in many sectors.
"In the seven decades until 2014, around 20,000 kilometres of rail lines had been electrified. In 10 years, this government has electrified more than 40,000 kilometres of rail lines. Now tell me, is there any competition? I am not talking about May,” he quipped to laughter, seemingly referring to the upcoming elections where it is widely expected that the BJP will emerge victorious.
On poverty, Modi said that his government shut down the "industry" that "dined on wine and cheese" and gave advice on how to reduce the number of poor people in the country.
"I rose from poverty and became Prime Minister, so I know how to fight poverty. In the last 10 years, 25 crore people have been lifted from poverty," he said.
More broadly on the economy, the Prime Minister said a "virtuous cycle" has begun for India, with the growth rate rising and the government's fiscal deficit falling.
"Inflation is under control, opportunities and income are both rising, poverty is falling. Consumption and corporate profitability are both rising. Banks' NPAs are at record lows. Production and productivity are both increasing and our critics are at an all-time low," he added.
According to Modi, the 'first principles' of the government's budgets and overall policy are stability, consistency, and continuity. Specifically commenting on the budgets presented by his government – including the interim one on February 1 – he said that they all had four important features: focus on capital expenditure, unprecedented spending on welfare schemes, control over wasteful expenditure, and financial discipline.
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"In the last one year alone, just through ethanol blending in petrol we have saved Rs 24,000 crore. And our cleanliness drive has earned us Rs 1,100 crore just by selling the garbage from government buildings. This is all helping us save the public's money," he said, adding that nearly Rs 3 lakh crore has been saved by the use of the direct benefit transfers and that through the use of technology, 10 crore fake beneficiaries of welfare schemes had been removed.
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