India sets big targets now, is witnessing rapid progress: PM Modi

New Delhi [India], March 6 (ANI): Noting that India now thinks big, sets high targets and delivers big results, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that India has emerged as a driving force propelling global growth.

Speaking at the Republic Plenary Summit 2025, PM Modi highlighted the country’s progress in sectors such as solar energy.

He said the world today is declaring that this is India’s century. “India’s remarkable achievements have sparked new aspirations and expectations globally…India has now emerged as a driving force propelling global growth forward,” he said.

PM Modi said that over the last decade, more than Rs 42 lakh crore has been directly transferred to the bank accounts of the poor through the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) system.

“Every rupee sent from Delhi is credited directly to the beneficiaries’ bank accounts without any intermediaries. Ten years ago, India had an insignificant solar energy capacity. Today the nation stands proudly among the top five countries in the world in terms of solar energy capacity,” he said.

He said 18 years ago, in 2007, India’s annual GDP stood at Rs one lakh crore, representing the total economic activity for an entire year.

“However, today, the same level of activity is achieved within just a single quarter. This remarkable transformation highlights the rapid pace of economic growth in present-day India. After 65 years of independence, India was the 11th largest economy in the world. In just a decade, we have become the fifth largest economy. And with the same speed, we are going to become the third largest economy.

The Prime Minister also referred to his remarks to bring one lakh youth into politics who are “first timers”.

“I have been saying for the past few days that I have to bring 1 lakh youth into politics…Those who will go to vote in 2029, do not know what the headlines of newspapers used to be before 2014. They do not know that scams of 10-12 lakh crore used to happen. And when they will go to vote, they will not have anything for comparison,” he said.

The Prime Minister said his government has opened up the space sector to young innovators.

“When we made this decision, it didn’t get much attention. But today, there are over 250 space startups in the country. These startups are now creating rockets. A similar change has also happened in the mapping sector,” he said.