Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said India’s GDP growth of 7.7% in the first six months of the current fiscal year is a reflection of the country’s strengthening economy and the transformative reforms carried out in the last 10 years.

Modi reiterated that India’s growth story is based on the government’s top priority to policy, good governance and the welfare of the citizens.

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As mentioned by the IMF in September 2023, the Prime Minister highlighted India’s contribution to the global growth rate of 16% in the year 2023. He also quoted the World Bank and said, “Amid the global challenges, there are high hopes with the Indian Economy.”

PM Modi was addressing the second edition of Infinity Forum, a global thought leadership platform on FinTech via video conferencing.

He acknowledged the Australian Prime Minister’s statement about India being primed to lead the Global South, and also highlighted the World Economic Forum’s observation about the reduction of red tapeism in India creating better investment opportunities.

PM underlined that India being a ray of hope for the world is a result of its strengthening economy and the transformative reforms of the past 10 years. He credited India’s focus on long-term growth and economic capacity expansion at a time when the rest of the world focused on fiscal and monetary relief.

Speaking about the Gujarat International Finance Tec (GIFT) City, PM Modi said his government wants to turn the GIFT City into a global nerve centre of the new age global financial and technology services.

Emphasizing the goal of increasing integration with the global economy, the Prime Minister listed down the achievements of flexible FDI policy in many sectors, reduction in compliance burden, and mentioned the signing of three FTAs today.

He said that GIFT IFSCA is part of a larger reform to integrate Indian and global financial markets. “GIFT City is envisioned as a dynamic ecosystem that will redefine the landscape of international finance”, PM added.

Speaking about expanding the scope of IFSCA, the Prime Minister reiterated the government’s efforts to take GIFT IFSCA beyond traditional finance and ventures.

“We want to make GIFT City the Global Nerve Center of New Age Global Financial and Technology Services”, PM said as he expressed confidence that the products and services provided by GIFT City will help solve the challenges facing the world and the stakeholders will have a huge role to play.

According to some estimates, the PM said, India will also need at least 10 trillion dollars, where a certain amount of this investment will also have to be financed through global sources, to achieve the net zero target by 2070. He emphasized making IFSC a global hub of Sustainable Finance.

“India is one of the fastest growing Fintech markets in the world today”, the Prime Minister said as he noted that India’s strength in Fintech is aligned with the vision of GIFT IFSC, and as a result, it is fast becoming an emerging hub of Fin-Tech.