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AI-driven industries to propel India to third-largest economy: FM
The industries that will play a key role in propelling India to become the third-largest economy in the world will largely be those that adopt artificial intelligence (AI), Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Thursday.
Interacting with students at an Institute of Economic Growth event, Sitharaman said, 'They can be any industry. Productivity gains and the efficiencies that you're bringing in because of the adoption of such technology is what is going to define these industries which will rapidly allow India to move to the third position.'
India is projected to be the fastest-growing major economy in the world in FY25 and is expected to overtake Japan to become the fourth-largest economy in 2025, according to estimates by the International Monetary Fund.
While highlighting how India's productivity has not kept pace with its ambition for rapid growth, Sitharaman said, 'I am not saying there was never an attempt to improve, but trying has not been facilitated with many other changes which could have been adopted. Technology is one of them.'
The adoption of technology, she said, could have accelerated productivity gains. She noted that the defining feature of the transformation in some sectors is the adoption of technology, including Web3.
Speaking about India's digital public infrastructure, the finance minister said, 'The way in which India's common people have taken to digital financial transactions has amazed the world. India has not seen the digital revolution in just one creamy layer, it has seen it vertically as well as horizontally all over the country.'
Sitharaman pointed out that while optical fibre had reached every district in the country, ensuring effective power supply remained a task to be coordinated with the states.
She also emphasised that in the post-Covid-19 period, all states have been spending on social schemes and welfare, but they are also now investing in capital expenditure. 'All states are now understanding the importance of capital expenditure because the multiplier effect is much higher,' she said.
The finance minister added that a key lesson from the Covid-19 pandemic is the need for the country to be prepared for future pandemics. 'Institutions will have to be ready for them; not just hospitals or disaster management teams but also schools, colleges, firefighting units,' she said.
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