Prime Minister Narendra Modi made the inaugural address at the Make In India week in Mumbai today. "This is the best time to be in India, it is even better to Make in India," said PM Modi.
Here are the highlights of his speech:
I am delighted to be a part of the celebrations of the Make In India week
I welcome you to the commercial capital of India - Mumbai
65 per cent of the population of India is under the age of 35
We are working aggressively towards making India a global manufacturing hub
We want manufacturing to be 25 per cent of our Gross Domestic Product
We know under the pressure of this campaign, the governing machinery will need to make a number of corrections on the policy front
We want to present to the world the enormous opportunities that India presents
Make In India week is an opportunity to stock of what we have done and what the road ahead could be
This event will showcase the progress we have made
This is the biggest trade exhibition held in India
In a year's time Make In India has become the biggest plan India has ever created. Both within and outside the country it has captured imagination of all.
This is because it reflects our collective desire to engage in productive activities and global needs to produce at lower costs
It is forcing us to increase the efficiency and integrate with the world on equal terms
Today India is perhaps the most open country for FDI. Most of the FDI sectors have been put on automatic route
This is at a time when global FDI has fallen substantially.
I repeat commitment to not enforce retrospective tax.
In the manufacturing sector, we have taken decisive steps to rationalise and simplify steps and decisions.
We have announced schemes in electronic and textiles.
We jumped 12 ranks in the global ease of doing business ranking
India has jumped 16 places on the WEF global competitive index
Moody's has upgraded India's rating as positive
It motivates us to make our policies and processes easier and friendlier
With this background I invite and encourage you to Make in India you workplace and home
We are investing in roads, parks, railways and social, agricultural infrastructure
So far it was the implementation capacity that was the biggest bottleneck
The increase in railway capex was highest this year
We are executive much more efficiently than ever before
We have also set up the national in investment and infrastructure fund
India is a land of immense opportunities
50 of our cities are ready for Metro Rail systems. Need 50 million houses
I lay great stress on zero defect and zero effect manufacturing