Defending demonetisation and Goods and Services Tax (GST) yet again, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said he was ready to “pay a political price” for the stringent steps that he had taken for the betterment of the nation.

Delivering the inaugural address at the 15th edition of HT Leadership Summit on the theme of ‘The Irreversible Rise of India,’ Modi said corrupt people were “living in fear” post noteban while GST brought “transparency”.

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“Post demonetisation, there’s a behavioural change in the people. The corrupt are living in fear now. Along with money, demonetisation has also brought large parts of the underground economy into the formal system,” Modi said.

“Black money which was the basis of parallel economy has become part of formal economy after demonetization,” he added.

“I am aware of the big political price I will have to pay for the steps I have taken, the path I have chosen and the destination I want to take the country to. But I am ready for it,” the prime minister said further.

Highlighting that the government is cracking down on shell companies and corrupt individuals tracked by data mining, Modi said over two lakh companies have been de-registered post noteban.

“There were 400-500 companies registered on one single address and they had thousands of bank accounts. Noteban has not only brought black money bank into banks but has also given us proof of the corrupt,” he said.

Praising GST, Modi said the financial reform has brought in “transparency” and more and more people are accepting it.

“GST has begun a new chapter of transparency and more and more traders and businessmen are accepting it now. Both GST and noteban have transformed how we do business in the country,” he said.

Taking on his detractors, Modi said those who believe that the country will wave a magic wand to bring transformation were filled with pessimism.

“People who believe that the country will wave a magic wand to bring transformation are filled with pessimism. This approach prevents us from taking risks. That’s why this government’s approach is different,” he said.

“In 2014, people voted for a permanent and irreversible change in the system and this is what we are doing,” he added.

The summit is being hosted against the backdrop of a host of reforms such as the GST, the potential benefits of which have been acknowledged in a sovereign ratings upgrade by Moody’s.