Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said India will leverage its strengths such as the knowledge industry, the digital capability and the demographic dividend to drive country’s economic development and become a powerful engine of global growth.
Addressing Indian diaspora at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in Indore (Madhya Pradesh), Sitharaman acknowledged their immense contributions in promoting brand India and sought their active participation in India’s ‘Amrut Kaal’, the 25-year roadmap to make India a developed nation.
She said while India’s knowledge sector is already playing a key role in the global economy, its digital capabilities has been acknowledged by the world.
She was referring to India’s digital revolution in the fields of health, education, financial inclusion, payment solutions and conducting world’s biggest Covid-19 vaccination drive through the Cowin App.
India will certainly be playing on its demographic dividend because it is going to have nearly 68% of all its population in the “working, productive age group” by 2030, she said.
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“So, if all of them going to contribute to the engine of growth for India, India certainly be the engine of growth for rest of the world as well,” she added.
Speaking about the Prime Minister Narendra Modi government’s vision and action plan, the finance minister said India is focusing on “four Ins” for the next 25 years – infrastructure, investment, innovation and inclusion. India is becoming a “knowledge hub”, she said citing examples of various awards won by Indians in the fields ranging from science to literature.
Highlighting India’s contributions to the global economy, she said 14 out of 15 diamonds across the world are cut and polished in India.
“Similarly, any car that you would buy and use abroad, there is at least one component that is made in India,” she added.
The FM said many major multinationals are considering to produce in India.
Lockheed Martin, which is global security and aerospace major, is producing F16’s wings in India and exporting globally. She also cited the example of Airbus setting up manufacturing facility of its aircraft in Dholera, Gujarat. Many MROs to repair and maintenance of aircraft are being setup in India, she added.
India is becoming global hub for high-value items, for example, 2,000 types of chips are designed by semiconductor companies located in the country. One-tenth of world’s total 6,00,000 to 7,00,000 semiconductor design engineers are from India. Underscoring India prowess as a knowledge hub of the world, Sitharaman said the outer ring road of Bangalore (the capital of Karnataka) alone has a concentration of 50,000 to 70,000 semiconductor design engineers.
“I can go on… One more point, which is very important… [related to] electrical vehicles, of the 100 million lines of code that is required for a driverless car, nearly 35% [codes are] written by Indians,” she said.
She said this does not mean that India is not sharing the opportunity with others.
Citing a Nasscom report she said Indian IT Industries have registered $396 billion in sales to date, creating 1.6 million jobs and contributing $198 billion to the US economy.
“So, Indian IT industry is also creating jobs in the US. According to the report, in 2021 Indian IT companies provided direct employments to 2,07,000 Americans with an average wage of $1,06,000, a growth of 22% over 2017”, she said.
The finance minister appealed Indian diaspora to talk about India’s contributions to the global economies. She said India immensely contributed to the world even in pharmaceuticals in terms of “69% of all vaccine (including for Covid-19) requirements of the globe is serviced from India”.
“Similarly, Made in India medicine in the domestic Indian pharma market is now more than 80%, compared to 5% in 1969. So, India is emerging as pharmacy of the world,” she said.
India also has world’s second largest biotech professionals and they serve the world from here, she said.
“That is why you find 1,400 World Health Organisation (WHO) recognised pharmaceutical plants in India… 253 of them are even European Union (EU) certified,” she added.
Emphasising India’s contribution in the knowledge sector, she said outside the US, if there is any one country which has the maximum number of FDA-approved producers or manufacturers of drugs, it is India.
“And, therefore, India is becoming a medical tourism hub, 2 million patients visit India just for medical treatment annually and they come from 78 countries,” Sitharaman said.
India is emerging as a low-cost global manufacturing destination of hi-tech quality products.
“I also want to talk about how low-cost and very affordable technology [solutions have] emerged from India,” she said citing example of Indian space missions such as the Chandrayan which reached the moon a cost less than a Hollywood film.
“We are producing good innovative technology at a cost which is lower than producing a film or … or even a good holiday…”
The finance minister said the Modi government believes in ‘jan-bhagidari’ [people’s participation] in governance and all its arms are involved in the collective decision-making processes, where Indian diaspora can also contribute by sharing their views and giving feedbacks.
“So, if that is the level at which of affordable technologies are being made in India, I’m sure, with your participation, with your inputs, they can be produced better and find better markets,” she said.
Recognising valuable contribution of Indian diaspora to the Indian economy, Sitharaman said there is a 12% year-on-year growth in foreign remittances by Indian migrants at $100 billion in 2020-21 in spite of challenges posed by Covid-9 pandemic and its aftermath.
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