With the government and we have seen this partnership not only at the national level but also in your capacity as a regulator, in your capacity in the states, and in many other roles that you have played. Today, sir, as we stand at a clear inflection point as far as our economy and the globe is concerned, and there is so much turbulence, the rising new playbooks of economics, the supply chain realignments, or the weaponization of trade, tariffs and resources, and accelerating shifts in energy and artificial intelligence. We have a large number of these topics being discussed in many ways and manner over the last few hours before you have come into this session. But sir, as we would turn to you, we also see the government's deep commitment to the reforms, the reforms expressed and yours, governments and yourself, reforms being focused on not just industry and business but we see reforms which have been focused on the social side, on the inclusiveness side, in the areas of state level reforms, in the area of global trade, in the areas actually most importantly the areas of people. So with that we turn to you, Sri Shaktikanta Das, for your thoughts, your vision on the journey to Viksit Bharat, the next generation reforms. We know how deeply you prepare when you come, and when I had gone to call upon you, you said it's a short notice because you know I prepare, and we know you are prepared for giving us your vision today. May I have the pleasure and honor of inviting you to give your address.
Sri Rajiv Memani, Sri Chandrajit Banerjee, members of the CII, friends from the media, ladies and gentlemen. It's a matter of great pleasure and delight for me to address this distinguished gathering at the annual business summit of the CII. I have participated in many events of CII but didn't realize that I had not participated in this annual business summit or the annual meeting as you say, but I remember having participated in your national executive meeting on more than one occasion. CII as an institution has long stood out as a trusted and influential platform for sustained engagement between policy makers, industry leaders and key stakeholders. At the current juncture when the global economic landscape is in a state of flux and when there are significant structural opportunities at home, I repeat, when there are significant structural opportunities at home, forums such as this assume high relevance in shaping shared understanding and collective responses. This is perhaps my fourth or fifth engagement with the CII since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. During this period, that is during the last five to six years, the global economy has been subjected to a relentless succession of shocks. What began as a pandemic induced disruption was followed by several external shocks like the war in Ukraine, monetary tightening in advanced economies, tariff barriers, supply chain disruptions and a series of conflicts in West Asia. The net outcome of all these is reflected in slower growth. I'm talking about the global position. They are all reflected in slower growth, inflationary pressures, fragmented supply chains, heightened financial market volatility, and unprecedented energy crisis. Today's business summit focuses on vision for India at 100. Let me start by emphasizing that independent India was born in 1947. But India's existence and greatness goes back a long period in time. Prior to colonization, India commanded nearly 25% of global GDP and was the hub of trade, culture and innovation. In the year 1600 AD when the East India Company was founded, Britain was generating 1.8% of world's GDP. Whereas on the other hand, India was producing 22.5% of the world GDP. While we cannot live in the past, we must not forget the reality of the past that we were once a leading economic power in the world and that we can again achieve that position. As we approach 2047, the centenary of our independence, the vision must be to reclaim that stature, not through nostalgia, but through enterprise, technology and inclusive growth. Against this background, I propose to first reflect on the evolving global and Indian economic landscape and what it means for business leaders and other stakeholders in our economy. We are living in a world of unknown unknowns. Uncertainties arising from unforeseen shocks and geopolitical conflicts have become the new normal for the world economy. Global growth which expanded by an estimated 3.4% in the year 2025, that is last year, is projected by the IMF to slow down to 3.1% in 2026 with growth potentially falling further to 2 to 2.5% if the emerging situation becomes extremely adverse. Global inflation on the other hand could rise to 5.4 to 6% under adverse scenarios. In its April 2026 World Economic Outlook, the IMF has noted that supply shock triggered by the Middle East crisis poses a serious threat to the global economy. Even if the conflict were to end tomorrow, the lasting impact of the damage to infrastructure and supply disruptions will continue to impose high costs for quite some time to come. Every additional day of disruption can potentially translate into significant economic costs for the world economy with cascading effects on energy supply, fertilizers, food security and global prices. Amidst such unsettled and turbulent global backdrop, India stands out as a clear outlier of resilience and renewal. India has not only absorbed successive disruptions since the COVID-19 pandemic but repeatedly converted every adversity into opportunity and momentum. The Indian economy has delivered an average annual GDP growth of about 7.4% between the years 2022-23 and 2025-26, making it the fastest growing major economy during that period. What is even more striking is that this growth is anchored not in overleveraging, not in overspending, not in loosening the financial system, but this is anchored in macroeconomic stability that is contained inflation, prudent fiscal consolidation, a resilient financial system and strong domestic demand. Growth and stability have moved in tandem reinforcing India's emergence as a key pillar of growth and stability. The fiscal position of the government of India is stable with a decisive shift towards more of capital expenditure and infrastructure spending. The banking sector today stands out on a much stronger footing than in previous business cycles. Years of balance sheet repair, improved asset quality recognition, and tighter supervisory oversight have significantly reduced non-performing assets and enhanced capital adequacy across the banking system. Improved quality of governance, profitability, adequate capital buffers and prudent lending standards have enabled our banks to resume sustainable credit growth which supports both consumption and investment. This renewed strength has positioned our banking system as a pillar of stability amidst global financial uncertainty. Corporates have also contributed to the overall financial stability by consciously deleveraging their balance sheets especially during the COVID-19 pandemic and the immediate aftermath of the pandemic. Many firms have replaced high-cost borrowings with lower cost and longer tenure financing, improved cash flow management and reduced dependence on short-term debt. This shift has strengthened debt servicing capacity, lowered vulnerability to interest rate movements and enhanced investor confidence. As a result, corporate balance sheets today are better positioned to support fresh investment and expansion. Now, I have given lot of data in the footnotes of my speech. I will share a copy with the CII. If you wish, not an imposition, but if you wish you could circulate among your members. I'm not going into too much of data in the interest of time. If we take a step back and reflect, every global shock in the last five to six years has compounded the previous shock leaving very little time for recovery. The notion of resilience has therefore been tested worldwide like never before. In such a scenario, the Indian economy not only withstood each of these shocks but emerged even stronger after every crisis. These outcomes are not by accident. They are the result of thoughtful policy choices and resilient buffers built over the last 10 to 12 years. In the prevailing situation, quite naturally there are multiple questions. When I say prevailing situation meaning the situation that prevails today with the geopolitical conflicts in various places, the West Asian crisis. So in this prevailing situation quite naturally there are multiple questions in the mind of every stakeholder in the Indian economy about the ability of our economy to navigate through the current crisis originating from the West Asian conflict and other challenges emanating from other parts of the world. I now propose to highlight some of these challenges and how we are dealing with them. First, let me start with global energy crisis. India's energy demand is projected to grow faster than almost any other major economy through 2035. In fact, India is expected to account for over 23% of global incremental energy demand by 2050, the highest for any country. To meet this growing demand, India has focused on strengthening its energy systems through reforms, infrastructure expansion and cleaner energy pathways. In June 2025, that is last year, India reached a major milestone by achieving 50% of its cumulative installed electricity capacity from non-fossil fuel sources, 5 years ahead of the target year of 2030 under the Paris agreement. Reforms in the hydrocarbon sector, expansion of energy infrastructure and rapid scaleup of renewable energy are jointly supporting economic growth, employment creation, energy security and India's evolving role in the global energy markets. India has made sustained push towards reliance on alternative energy. Investment in renewable energy has risen sharply. The share of renewables in the installed electricity generation capacity increased from around 27.3% in the year 2014-15 to about 51.6% as at the end of March this year, that is March 2026. Within this sector, the solar power capacity has gone up from 2.63 gigawatt in March 2014 to 150.26 gigawatt in April-May 2026. Further policy support for electric vehicles and ethanol blending has enhanced the role of domestic energy resources in the country. The country's trajectory in renewable energy suggests that India will remain a key player in the global transition towards sustainable energy. In April 2026, India faced record electricity demand of about 256 gigawatt driven by extreme heat waves. The entire power system met this peak demand without any national shortage. This underscores the significant strides India has made in energy security reflecting stronger capacity addition, grid preparedness and operational coordination. India is better positioned today to confront extreme demand conditions head-on and emerge resilient. India's renewable surge is being matched by advances in digital grid management, storage and new technology. Emerging sectors such as bioenergy and green hydrogen are receiving top priority. The initiative of the government of India smartly combines solid and waste management in villages with energy security. The enactment of the Shakti Act which enables private participation in nuclear energy will open a new chapter in our energy security. On the infrastructure front, especially amidst global geopolitical and geoeconomic tensions, India offers a striking counter-narrative. New mega infrastructure projects are being delivered to the nation in quick succession. Major expressways, bridges, tunnels, railway lines, airports, seaports together with major healthcare infrastructure are reshaping our infrastructure ecosystem. Each of these new projects is unclogging longstanding bottlenecks by improving logistics efficiency, reducing distances in terms of time and length, and lowering transaction costs. These infrastructure projects are boosting productivity across sectors. In doing so, they are integrating markets, expanding opportunities and fundamentally transforming the way India does business. The unprecedented expansion in infrastructure facilities is anchored in rising capital expenditure of the central government which has gone up exponentially in the recent years. Complementing this unprecedented infrastructure expansion is the focus of the government on urban infrastructure. Urban transport especially metro rail systems is emerging as a flagship outcome of this approach. India now has the world's third largest metro network, expanding from 248 kilometers in 2014 to 1,095 kilometers across 26 cities by the year 2025 with nearly 650 kilometers under construction. Beyond mobility and environmental benefits, Metro expansion improves household financial resilience. In an interesting insight, the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council using granular home loan data finds statistically significant reduction in mortgage delinquency to about 1.7 to 4.4%. And it also points towards higher prepayments, that is earlier prepayments and higher prepayment of the loans and that's about 1.4 to 3.5%. Now this analysis was done in the metro-connected areas of Delhi, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. This is driven among others by lower dependence on private vehicles and reduced recurring transport costs incurred by households. These findings highlight that infrastructure investment generates not only macroeconomic gains but also financial stability spillovers for households and also stronger credit ecosystem. Another remarkable feature which enhances India's capacity and confidence in the prevailing unsettled global conditions is the free trade agreements concluded in the recent months by securing predictable market access, adjusting tariff and non-tariff barriers and strengthening rules and services, investments and standards. FTAs are expected to enable and they will enable our firms to scale faster and integrate into the global value chains. Modern FTAs go beyond goods. They unlock gains in services, digital trade and professional mobility. When aligned with our strong domestic capabilities, FTAs would transform our national strengths into sustained global economic influence. With trade openness and strategic autonomy, India is building resilience, enhancing competitiveness and positioning itself as a constructive and reliable participant in the evolving architecture of global trade. Indian industry and business must capitalize on the opportunities opened up by the FTAs. They must focus on further improving the quality of their products and services to enhance international competitiveness. I hope I am making some sense.
