Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 21 said that reforms in the agricultural sector, in the last six months, have started giving benefits to the farmers and has asked industry to invest more in the R&D in areas such as agriculture, space and defence to make India ‘Aatmanirbhar’ as soon as possible.
Addressing the ASSOCHAM Foundation week, PM Modi said, "Benefits of agricultural reforms which had begun six months, have started reaching the farmers", touching upon a range of issues, including vaccine against COVID-19 pandemic, corporate governance, Research and Development, improving rural economy and renewed interest of global investors in India.
Asking the industry to feel unshackled, the Prime Minister said as part of Atmanirbhar initiative, India has made up its mind and is committed to reforms in rules and regulations.
Backing the farm laws, he said that with the improved physical and digital infrastructure, farmers can have a better market for their products, helping the entire rural economy reach a new high.
"The efforts by the government to reduce the rural-urban divide in the last six years can be multiplied by the industry," he said, asking the industry to be focussed more towards rural India.
He said, "today focus is being given on both physical and digital infrastructure" and ensuring the farmers have access to the digital market.
Calling upon ASSOCHAM and the entire India Inc to help devise a mechanism to deal with the fast -changing geo-political situations in the world, Modi said the "what you expect from the government and society", must be done by the industry as well.
The ASSOCHAM event was attended by India's top industry leaders, including Ratan Tata who was awarded 'ASSOCHAM Enterprise of the Century Award' for upholding and taking forward the ethos and values of the House of Tatas.
Talking about the event Dr Niranjan Hiranandani, president of ASSOCHAM said, "We as a nation have been infected by your mantra of self-belief – the clarion call of “Atmanirbhar Bharat”. This self-belief is most evident in the manufacturing sector, which is all set to leverage your PLI scheme to make India as a global factory in the next 5 years and achieve this 5 trillion dollar economy. With the bullet train construction starting in Gujarat, the bullet train of the Indian economy will also zoom ahead."
