PM Modi lays out economic roadmap for 2047, puts manufacturing and energy security at the centre

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday used his Independence Day address to lay out an economic roadmap for India, with manufacturing, energy security, technology, infrastructure, and global competitiveness at its centre.

Speaking from the ramparts of the Red Fort on India’s 80th Independence Day, the Prime Minister said India had gained a new pace of development over the past 12 years, but would now have to move faster to achieve the goal of a Viksit Bharat by 2047.

He said the country needed to change its work culture, thinking, and pace of execution, arguing that work that could not be completed in five to seven decades should now be done in five to seven years. “Reforms are a conviction, not a compulsion or a buzzword,” Modi said, laying out what he described as a new phase of reforms.

The Prime Minister pointed to the changes of the past 12 years to make the case for this faster pace. Defence production has increased nearly fourfold, khadi and village industries production nearly fivefold and electronics manufacturing nearly sevenfold, he said. Production of modern railway coaches has increased 21 times, while mobile phone production has risen 33 times and digital transactions have grown 100 times.

The next phase, he said, would be driven by “Shakti ki Sapt Dhara”, or seven streams of strength. These are manufacturing, agriculture and food processing, technology and innovation, connectivity and infrastructure, defence, the green and blue economy, and India's soft power.

Manufacturing push

Manufacturing is a key part of the Prime Minister's economic agenda. Modi said India needed to move beyond assembly and build complete value chains within the country, from components to finished products. The aim, he said, should be to make India a competitive manufacturing base on cost, quality and scale.

He stressed that there should be no compromise on quality as Indian companies look to compete in global markets. The Prime Minister also asked Indian businesses, especially MSMEs, to make use of the country's trade agreements with other nations. He said the agreements were creating opportunities for Indian products to reach global markets and that businesses should not miss them.

Agriculture and food processing would also need to be linked more closely to global markets, Modi said. Farmers should be able to take products from their farms to consumers overseas, while food processing and chemical-free farming could create new opportunities.

Modi also set out targets for Indian companies to become bigger global players. He said India should aim to have 50 companies among the Fortune 500 in the coming decade. He also set targets for at least one Indian bank to be among the world's top five banks and at least one Indian pharmaceutical company to feature among the world's five largest pharmaceutical companies.

Energy security

Modi warned that resources and strategic routes were increasingly being used as instruments of geopolitical pressure. Fuel, medicines and technology, he said, could become vulnerable when countries depend heavily on overseas supplies.

The Prime Minister said India therefore needed to build greater domestic capacity in critical areas. “Energy security is the need of the hour,” Modi said. He linked the issue to the country's future electricity demand, particularly as artificial intelligence, data centres and manufacturing expand. The government is now targeting 200 GW of nuclear power capacity and is setting up five new nuclear reactors.

Modi also said India had crossed an important milestone this year by mastering fast breeder nuclear technology, which he described as a major step towards self-reliance in nuclear fuel.

The government is also changing its approach to domestic resource exploration. Modi said 98% of India's offshore areas had earlier been restricted for oil and natural gas exploration. These areas are now being opened up for exploration, he said, describing the change as turning “no-go areas” into “go-ahead areas”.

The Prime Minister also referred to efforts to secure critical minerals and expand access to resources needed by industries such as electronics, energy and advanced technology.

India's domestic energy infrastructure has expanded as well. Piped gas is now reaching 1.75 crore households, while more than 50 lakh households have been covered by solar energy, Modi said.

From semiconductors to AI

Modi used semiconductors as an example of a technology that India recognised as important but failed to develop at scale earlier. Today, he said, India understands that chips are central to almost everything from consumer electronics to advanced technology.

The government is now trying to build a domestic semiconductor ecosystem and position India as a hub for emerging technologies. Artificial intelligence and next-generation connectivity are part of that push. Modi said India should not simply consume new technologies but develop the capabilities to build them.

He also announced a plan to train one crore young people in artificial intelligence over the next year. The push for technology comes alongside India's expanding startup ecosystem and innovation infrastructure. Modi highlighted the rise in the number of startups and the government's focus on funding innovation as part of its attempt to build a technology-led economy. Around 2.5 lakh startups have been registered, he said.

Self-reliance and global markets

India has entered into trade agreements with around 40 countries, Modi said, and these should be used to help Indian businesses access new markets. He also pointed to Indian agricultural products, including shrimp, reaching international markets.

The message was similar for defence. Modi said India should move towards greater self-reliance in defence production while also becoming a supplier to the global market. Drones, hypersonic systems and cybersecurity, he said, would be important areas of future demand.

Infrastructure and the road to 2047

Infrastructure will form another part of this push. Modi called for faster development of highways, waterways, airports, ports and multimodal transport systems, with port-led development playing a larger role.

He also highlighted the expansion of railway electrification. Railway electrification had begun in 1925, but had reached only around 30% over the following 90 years. In the past decade, electrification has risen to around 70%, he said. The broader goal is to improve the movement of goods and people while lowering the time and cost of doing business.

The Prime Minister also highlighted the government's support for farmers amid high global fertiliser prices. He said urea costs around ₹3,000 per sack in the global market but is supplied to Indian farmers at ₹300. DAP, whose global price has reached around ₹5,000, is being provided to farmers at ₹1,350, he said.

"The target is Viksit Bharat by 2047." For that, the Prime Minister said, India would have to increase its manufacturing capacity, secure its energy and critical minerals, develop new technologies, improve infrastructure, and build companies capable of competing at a global scale.