Modi frames India’s manufacturing shift as part of a wider reform push
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India has moved away from what he called a system of “production-linked punishment” and into one that rewards output, putting
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India has moved away from what he called a system of “production-linked punishment” and into one that rewards output, putting the country’s industrial policy at the centre of a broader push for faster reforms. The message was direct. Make more, get rewarded.
Speaking at the Economic Times World Leaders Forum on Friday, Modi said past “licence raj” governments penalised companies for producing more, while current schemes such as PLI incentivise higher production. He said his government would keep pressing ahead with reforms to realise the goal of a “Viksit Bharat”, or developed India.
Reform push tied to jobs and voters
Modi linked the reform drive to the people his government says it serves first: youth, women, farmers, the poor and the middle class. “Our govt will continue working for the youth, women, farmers, the poor and the middle class. Our reform express will move forward at an even greater speed,” he said.
The framing matters because industrial policy in India now sits at the intersection of politics, jobs and global supply chains. The PLI, or production-linked incentive, model has become a shorthand for a state that wants factories to scale up without the old suspicion that larger output should be restrained. For companies, the signal is simple. Expansion is welcome.
Modi also cast India as a rare bright spot as global economic and geopolitical pressures mount. He said the world was looking at India as a place where poverty has fallen, while the International Monetary Fund expects it to remain the fastest-growing major economy.
India as an anchor in a fractured world
He argued that a developed India would help steady a world he described as marked by distrust and the weaponisation of resources. “For me, if India’s future is secured, it will play a major role in bringing stability to the future of the world,” he said.
The remarks fit a wider pitch from New Delhi that India’s growth is not just a domestic story. It is also a buffer, and perhaps a ballast, for a global economy under strain. That argument is likely to stay central as India courts investors, defends its industrial policy and tries to keep reform momentum alive.
Modi also attacked the Congress-led opposition for mocking Atmanirbhar Bharat initiatives, saying they wanted people to remain helpless. He said policies should be designed for the country, not borrowed wholesale. The next test will be whether that argument translates into more changes with the same pace he promised on Friday.