Uttarakhand Global Investors Summit: Modi bets on

While inaugurating Uttarakhand's flagship Global Investors Summit on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi championed India’s growth and targeted policies empowering the poor to call for more domestic manufacturing through his signature “Vocal for Local” initiative.

“India’s consumption-based economy now progresses rapidly,” Modi said. “We must focus on ‘Vocal for Local’ and ‘Local for Global’ to build self-reliance while expanding exports.” He cited over 13 crore citizens rising above poverty since 2014 thanks to welfare schemes, boosting demand.

"India's special development has happened in the last few years. There was a population of the country that was deprived of everything. Now, due to the government's schemes, more than 13 crore people have come out of poverty in just 5 years. All these have given a boost to the economy. Today the country's consumption-based economy is moving forward rapidly. We have to become 'Vocal for local and local for global," Moid said at the event.

Modi invites investors with improved infrastructure

Declaring Uttarakhand’s “unmatched potential,” Modi invited investors to reap benefits from ongoing infrastructure expansion like the Delhi-Dehradun Expressway, promising to slash travel time to just two hours. He envisioned Uttarakhand emerging as “a new brand of empowerment” with natural advantages.

Boldly predicting India will rank among the top three economies this decade, Modi called Uttarakhand’s development a national priority. But he stressed even prosperous states need to do more to create rural wealth and supply chains around local specialities through grassroots empowerment.

#WATCH | At Uttarakhand's Global Investors Summit 2023 in Dehradun, Prime Minister Narendra Modi says, "This Devbhoomi is definitely going to open many doors for you. Today, Uttarakhand is a shining example of the mantra with which India is moving forward with the mantra of… pic.twitter.com/PGlPvDcXC3

— ANI (@ANI) December 8, 2023

Modi on "Lakhpati Didis" and Local Weddings

On that front, Modi announced his aspirational goal to uplift two crore rural women as “Lakhpati Didis” or hundred thousand rupee earners. “It is difficult but this summit will also help,” he told business leaders, urging them to identify champion district-level products.

The Prime Minister concluded by advocating a “Wed in India” movement to rival “Make in India,” asking wealthy Indians to celebrate weddings domestically and thereby stimulate the economy.

From skilling rural artisans to persuading India’s elite to keep matrimony local, Modi creatively connected economic dots to ensure historically marginalised communities also contribute to India’s collectively brighter future.