Celebrating freedom with reforms: Modi promises advancements in defence, technology, manufacturing, and major development schemes

Economic Times

21 hours ago

Narendra Modi government is gearing up for next GST reforms by October. On Independence day, Modi unveiled Rs 1 lakh crore jobs programme. PM also assured the nation that India will become the third-largest economy soon. PM Viksit Bharat Rozgar Yojana will facilitate creation of 35 million jobs. Government will constitute task force to look into next-generation economic reforms.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a 'Diwali gift' for the people two months ahead of the festival, declaring that the next set of goods and services tax (GST) reforms will be in place by October, besides underscoring a renewed reforms push, emphasising Atmanirbhar (self-reliant) Bharat as the bedrock on which Viksit Bharat will be built by 2047, and unveiling a Rs 1-lakh crore jobs programme, among other initiatives.In his 12th Independence Day speech that lasted 103 minutes, the Prime Minister also assured the nation he will soon declare from the Red Fort that India has become the third-largest economy in the world.Countering the Opposition's charge of high unemployment, Modi also said the PM Viksit Bharat Rozgar Yojana being launched on Independence Day will facilitate the creation of 35 million jobs.On Friday, he said, 'This Diwali, you are going to get a big gift. We are coming with the next generation of GST reforms.' The announcement comes close on the heels of parliamentary approval for two key items of legislation — the Income Tax (No 2) Bill and the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill — earlier this week. A total of 280 sections have been abolished in the Income Tax Act.The Prime Minister said the government has decided to constitute a task force to look into the prospects of next-generation economic reforms within a set time frame. 'Current rules, laws, policies, and procedures must be redrafted to suit the 21st century, to fit the global environment and to align with the vision of making Bharat a developed nation by 2047,' he said.The PM said the policy changes will reduce compliance costs, besides boosting startups and small and cottage industries. Other benefits will include a smoother export process, improved logistics and systems, and the abolition of archaic laws that led to imprisonment for minor matters. Modi urged all sections, including political parties, his rivals and fellow leaders, to take part in the efforts to build a bright future.'I wish to tell my countrymen, everything I am doing, I am doing for the country, not for myself, not to harm anyone,' he said. 'Whether it is structural reforms, regulatory reforms, policy reforms, process reforms, or the need for constitutional reforms, we have made every kind of reform our mission today.'Atmanirbhar Bharat is the bedrock on which Viksit Bharat will be built, he said. He asserted that Operation Sindoor, the Gaganyaan mission and the manufacture of indigenous semiconductors has proved the power of self-reliance.'The greater a nation's reliance on others, the more its freedom comes into question,' he said. 'Misfortune arises when dependency becomes a habit, when we do not even realise it, when we abandon self-reliance and become dependent on others. This habit is fraught with danger, and hence one must remain vigilant every moment to be self-reliant.'Made-in-India weapons and defence systems helped India during Operation Sindoor, the Prime Minister asserted.'The enemy had no inkling of what weapons and capabilities we possessed, what power was destroying them in the blink of an eye,' he said. 'Imagine if we were not self-reliant, could we have executed Operation Sindoor with such swiftness? We would have been plagued by worries over who might supply us, whether we would get the required equipment, and so on.'The Prime Minister also announced the Sudarshan Chakra Mission for creating a complete security cover for all civilian installations across the country in the near future.Since the 21st century is a 'technology-driven century,' it is imperative that India does not lag behind, the Prime Minister said, adding that every nation that mastered technology scaled the heights of development and attained new dimensions of economic power.He lamented that although India began the process of building infrastructure for semiconductor manufacture six decades ago, the plan was stalled, delayed and shelved while other countries mastered the technology and strengthened their position.'Today we have freed ourselves from that burden and advanced the work on semiconductors in mission mode,' Modi said. 'Six different semiconductor units are taking shape on the ground, and we have already given the green signal to four new units.'India is becoming self-reliant in space technology as well, the Prime Minister stated.'We are also preparing for Aatmanirbhar Bharat Gaganyaan on our own in space,' he said. 'We are working towards building our own space station. And I am very proud of the reforms done in space recently. More than 300 startups in my country are now working only in the space sector and thousands of youth are working with full potential in those 300 startups.'He expressed satisfaction at the pace with which the National Manufacturing Mission was progressing and reiterated the importance of the 'vocal for local,' 'zero defect, zero effect' and 'lower price, higher value' themes.Underlining the need for promoting indigenous products, Modi urged all traders and shopkeepers across the country to put up boards, saying 'Swadeshi goods sold here.'The new jobs programme is expected to create new employment opportunities for approximately 35 million youth.'Today, on August 15th, we are launching and implementing a scheme worth Rs 1 lakh crore for the youth of my country,' he said. 'The Pradhan Mantri Viksit Bharat Rozgar Yojana is being implemented today… Under this scheme, the government will give Rs 15,000 to the youth, to every son or daughter who gets a job in the private sector.'Companies that generate more jobs will also be given incentives under the scheme.