‘That is New India’: Actor Madhavan praises PM Modi’s digital economy push at Cannes (VIDEO)

New Delhi: While the cinestars showcased India’s soft power at Cannes film festival, actor R Madhavan chose the occasion to shower praise on Modi government for bringing a ‘sweeping change’ in the way the economy operates.

Batting for PM Modi’s push for micro economy & digital currency, Madhavan said that when the first steps were taken to digitization, there was hue & cry not just in India but also across the globe. He added that the world was unconvinced & skeptical of India’s ability and believed that it would a ‘big disaster’ for a country as the majority of the population didn’t know how to operate a smartphone but that myth has been dismantled.

“When the Prime Minister of India started his term, he introduced micro-economy and digital currency. There was a furore around the world, among the economic community which said, ‘This is not going to work. This is a disaster’ because how are you going to get the farmers and the people who are uneducated in the small villages to handle a small phone or a smartphone and handle the accounting,” the actor said.

When our PM @narendramodi introduced a micro economy & digital currency there was a furore…it is going to be a disaster. In a couple of years the whole story changed & India became one of the largest users of micro economy in the world. This is #NewIndia – @ActorMadhavan pic.twitter.com/yhuuZf8iHI

— Office of Mr. Anurag Thakur (@Anurag_Office) May 19, 2022

The actor said this while speaking at the Cannes film festival about his directorial debut ‘Rocketry’: The Nambi Effect’ at the Cannes. Union I&B Minister Anurag Thakur shared a video clip of the actor where he strongly defended PM Modi’s vision of digital economy, something that was thought to be a disaster by economists.

Madhavan’s straight talk to ‘sceptical’ economists

Elaborating on India’s successful transition from cash-intensive to cashless economy, the actor said that the story has changed in few years.
“Today India has become one of the largest users of micro-economy in the world. And, that is New India,” he said.

He said that today farmers don’t need to be educated to know that how they got money in their accounts via their phone, apparently referring to the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme that has benefitted lakhs of farming community in last few years.

Earlier, Deepika Padukone said that India is at the cusp of greatness.

“There will come a day I truly believe where India won’t have to be at Cannes, but Cannes will be in India,” she said.