Schemes like Clean India will make the country eco superpower: Pranab Mukherjee

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin is on a state visit to India on the invitation of President Pranab Mukherjee

President Pranab Mukherjee said on Sunday India will become a "modern economic power in the world" if the government's innovative schemes such as 'Clean India' and 'Digital India' are implemented successfully.

As India is on a cusp of second Green Revolution, the country needs to learn from Israel to boost crop productivity by using modern technologies, he said.

"New initiatives which our government has initiated in all areas of economic activity particularly innovative schemes like 'Make in India', 'Clean India', 'Smart India', Digital India — successful implementation of all these will convert this ancient civilisation into a prosperous, vibrant and modern economic power in the world," Mukherjee said at the inaugural function of CII Agro-tech event here.

To become a modern economic power, he stressed on "effectively using our resources" and increase farm productivity to the maximum level.

"We have to learn from Israel which has achieved higher yields using water-efficient irrigation technologies to the optimum level," he said while lauding Israel's efforts in making the country a food surplus and water surplus nation.

Israel's President Reuven Rivlin, who was the guest of honour at the agri-event, said the strengthening of ties between the nations can bring 'magic in the world' as the two countries have potential to scale up.

"When Israeli companies and Indian farmers are networking, they are doing magic together. You once said that every country has its own way to move forward. India leads the world in innovation and can scale up," he said.

Rivlin shared that India taught Israel about the importance of food security. "In Israel, we are more concerned about inland security. India taught that the greatest challenge is food security."

On a lighter note, Rivlin said he fell in love with Hindi word 'jugad' and added, "The state of Israel is jugad. There is 'jugad' in the way we work and the innovation...."

Rivlin is on a state visit to India on the invitation of President Pranab Mukherjee.

India and Israel signed agreements for agriculture partnership in 2006 under which Israel has been sharing its best practices and knowledge through professional training programmes.