Transforming India from old civilisation to modern society: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the Centre is working with a mission of transforming India from an old civilisation into a modern society.

"We are working with the mission of Transforming India from: An old civilisation into a modern society, an informal economy/ into a formal economy," Prime Minister Modi said.

Addressing the India-Korea Business Summit here, the Prime Minister said India and Korea have a lot in common and their relations between dates back to centuries.

"Relations between India-Korea dates back to centuries. We are also bound by our Buddhist traditions. Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore composed poem 'Lamp of the East' in 1929 about Korea's glorious past and its bright future. From Princess to Poetry and from Buddha to Bollywood; India and Korea have so much in common," he said.

The Prime Minister announced that the Centre is on a de-regulation and de-licensing drive.

"We are on a de-regulation and de-licensing drive. The validity period of industrial licenses has been increased from three years to fifteen years and more," he added.

Prime Minister Modi also said that India has all three factors of democracy - Democracy, Demography and Demand.

"If you see around the globe, there are very few countries where you have three important factors of the economy together. They are: Democracy, Demography and Demand. In India, we have all the three together," the Prime Minister stated.

He asserted that the Centre has worked towards creating a stable business environment by removing arbitrariness in decision making.

"We have worked towards creating a stable business environment, removing arbitrariness in decision making. We seek positivity in the day to day transactions. We are widening areas of trust; rather than digging into doubts. This represents a complete change of the government's mindset," he said.

He also claimed that India is already the third-largest economy by purchasing power.

The Prime Minister said, "We are already the third-largest economy by purchasing power. Very soon, we will become the world's fifth-largest economy by nominal the GDP. We are also the fastest growing major economy in the world today. We are also a country with one of the largest Startup eco-systems."

Recalling his Korea visit, Prime Minister Modi said that he admired the way they (Korea) have created and sustained a global brand.

"Korea has given exemplary products to the world," he added.

This year, the theme of the summit was "India-Korea: Scaling up the Special Strategic Relationship through Trade and Investments".

The summit aimed to create the framework for an open and action-oriented dialogue between top business leaders and the government officials from India and Korea.

The agenda of the summit focused on specific sectors where new and immediate opportunities exist for Korean and Indian companies such as Infrastructure, ICT, Power, Smart Cities, Manufacturing and other strategic areas of collaborations.

Over 200 business delegates including top executives of some leading Korean business conglomerates and Government officials are participating in the Summit. India and Korea are the third and fourth largest economies in Asia.

The Summit was being organised by MoCI in partnership with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Chosun Ilbo, the largest media business group in Korea.