India will be $20-trillion economy: PM at Facebook event

Mark Zuckerberg said he travelled around India in early days of Facebook and rebuilt his business

Prime Minister Narendra Modi set an ambitious target for India to become a $20-trillion economy with increased focus on agriculture, manufacturing and services. He said the government was focusing on deregulation, adding "the government has no business to run business".

Modi who is on a two-day visit to California, responded to questions at a town hall at the Facebook headquarters. In the services sector, he said tourism would be a big job generator for India, "if we focus on improving the image of the country".

"In the past one-and-a-half years, we have restored the confidence of people. We have brought in new confidence. It is like a patient in an ICU (intensive care unit). When he knows a doctor is taking care of him well, he gains confidence and he can come out of the ICU," said Modi. He cited reports by the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and rating agencies of India's positive economic growth.

In his opening remarks, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said he had sought spiritual solace in India by travelling around the country for a month, when undergoing tough times and wondering whether to sell his company. "India is personally important in the history of the company. I haven't told this publicly - early on in the history, before things were going well, when we were going through a rough patch, we thought we should sell the company. My mentor Steve Jobs advised me to re-connect with an Indian temple, which he had visited early on during the evolution of Apple. I travelled almost for a month and see how people connected," Zuckerberg told the audience, which included his parents.

Modi reiterated the ambitious plan of providing optic-fibre connectivity to 600,000 villages in five years that could help the country witness growth. "Future cities will be built along network of optical fibre, similar to how civilisation was built around rivers and highways."

"There is no dearth of funding capital in the world. There are many countries that don't know where to invest their money. I'm giving them the address," said Modi.

He added that India is investing in physical and digital infrastructure with emphasis on technology to improve governance for the people.

Modi said the government could not achieve its economic goal. He said the government wants more women to join the workforce. "In education and health, you actually need to make reservation for men. There are more women in health and education; we need more participation of women in other sectors."