Work on to get India in $5 trillion club soon: PM Modi

Reaching out to top industrialists and businessmen, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said the government is working towards making India a $5 trillion economy and for this the country will have to continue scaling up the World Bank`s Ease of Doing Business (EODB) ranking.

"Now our target is to get India into the $5 trillion club in the shortest possible time. For this, we have to improve all areas of the economy," he said addressing them at his residence here while launching the "Ease of Doing Business Grand Challenge". Currently, India is a $2.5 trillion economy.

Modi said the government is working on an industrial policy that takes into account the changing economic scenario and will be aligned to the aspirations of the new industrialists in New India.

"We will have to keep the changes in mind. Manufacturing and services sectors are now complementary to each other with both adding value to the other. New techniques, artificial intelligence and information technology is now an essential part of the ecosystem," he said.

Modi said the industrial policy will give importance to EoDB in which India has climbed up 65 ranks from 142 to 77 in the last four years. He said the Centre is working continuously with the state governments on EoDB ushering in cooperative, competitive federalism.

"Now we all have to work together to get into the top 50 rank. In days to come, I will hold review meetings with different departments as decisions rolled out by December will get reflected in the EoDB rankings of next year," he said.

Modi said business, trade and industry are an essential part of the country as the country needs growth, infrastructure, jobs and increase in per capita income. He said the government is putting stress on "policy driven governance and predictable transparent policies".

The Prime Minister said the government is not only working to improve its business-friendly ranking but also towards giving a quality life to the common citizens. 

"World Bank`s ranking is decided only on some parameters but the government`s strategy of reform, perform and transform is much wider than that. We are working to improve the ease of living for common citizens, traders and small industrialists.

"The country is continuously working on reforms to make people`s life simple and easy. India`s rank is rising or has already risen in the several evaluations done by either IMF, Moody`s, World Economic Forum or UNCTAD," he said.

The objective of the Grand Challenge is to invite innovative ideas based on artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, big data analytics, block chain and other cutting-edge technology to reform government processes.