PM Modi chairs meeting with various sectoral groups in pre-Budget exercise

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday called for a focussed effort from all stakeholders to achieve the target of five trillion dollar economy in India.

He was interacting with various senior economists, private equity and venture capitalists, business leaders from manufacturing, travel and tourism, apparel and FMCG, analytics, subject experts in the fields of agriculture, science and technology, and finance.

The meeting was held at NITI Aayog in the national capital as part of the pre-Budget exercise.

Modi said that he was happy that the two-hour open discussion brought to the forefront the experience of people on the ground and those working in their respective fields.

He said that this will enhance synergy between policymakers and various stakeholders. The Prime Minister said that the idea of five trillion dollars economy is not a sudden development but based on a deep understanding of the country’s strengths.

The strong absorbent capacity of the Indian economy shows the strength of basic fundamentals of the Indian economy and its capacity to bounce back, said Modi.

Sectors like tourism, urban development, infrastructure and agri-based industry have a great potential to take forward the economy and for employment generation, he said.

The Prime Minister said that open discussions and brainstorming in such forums lead to a healthy debate and understanding of the issues. This will also foster a positive mood and ‘can do’ spirit in society.

Stating that India is a land with unlimited possibilities, he requested all stakeholders to do their bit to bridge the gap between reality and perception.

“We must all work together and start to think like a nation,” said Modi, according to an official statement.

Economists like Shankar Acharya, R Nagaraj, Farzana Afridi, venture capitalist Pradip Shah, industrialists Apparao Mallavarapu, Deep Kalra, Patanjali Govind Keswani, Deepak Seth, Srikumar Misra, subject experts Ashish Dhawan and Shiv Sarin were among the 38 delegates who participated in the discussions.

Minister for Home Affairs Amit Shah, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways and MSME Nitin Gadkari, Minister for Railways and Commerce Piyush Goyal and Minister for Agriculture Narendra Tomar, secretaries from various ministries, Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog Rajiv Kumar and CEO of NITI Aayog Amitabh Kant attended the meeting. (ANI)