Modi says pro-poor, quiet on big business in key annual address

By Rupam Jain Nair and Frank Jack Daniel

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Prime Minister Narendra Modi sought to shed an image that he governs for big business on Saturday, vowing to help the poor in his independence day speech aimed at bolstering popularity rather than tackling setbacks to his economic reform plans.

Modi took office just over a year ago on a wave of optimism that he would quickly revive India's economic fortunes but despite a number of victories, opposition to land and tax shake-ups has slowed his progress.

Modi's speech focused on measures his "Team India" had rolled out to include millions of poor Indians in the banking and insurance systems, policies for workers and farmers and successes in the fights against inflation and corruption.

"Farmers need protection. For 60 years very little attention was paid to their welfare. We want to change this approach," he said in his second annual address from the ramparts of the Mughal era Red Fort in New Delhi.

But he made no mention of his flagship "Make in India" project aimed at speeding up India's industrial revolution, and did not talk about weeks of opposition in parliament that have stalled his plans for pro-industry land and tax reforms.

Modi first mentioned "Make in India" a year ago, when he called on investors to set up in the country. That programme has had some successes, with Taiwan's Foxconn unveiling a $5 billion investment last week.

But Modi's party is facing a tightly fought election in the rural state of Bihar in a few weeks where the opposition is seeking to paint him as a "suit, boot" politician whose policies damage the poor.

Repeatedly dabbing his face in the humid morning, Modi said he had done more for villagers than any other government.

Modi, himself from a poor family, said he was considering incentives for manufacturers to create more jobs and promised to make hiring of blue collar workers merit based, in a culture where jobs often depend on personal connections.

The slower-than-expected reform pace since Modi stormed to office with India's first ever lower house majority for a conservative government has disappointed some who expected him to rapidly slash the red tape of India's socialist past.

"One year later, it seems that caution characterizes the Modi government's performance just as enthusiasm had defined Modi's election promises," the Washington-based Hudson Institute said in a report this week.

India's celebrations to mark independence from Britain in 1947 are tinged with sadness because they also recall the bloody partition from Pakistan in which hundreds of thousands died.

(Editing by Nick Macfie)