India, driven by a decade of comprehensive reforms, has successfully transitioned from being identified as one of the ‘Fragile Five’ economies to now standing among the world’s top five economic powers.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday asserted that India has transitioned from being one of the world’s ‘Fragile Five’ economies before 2014 to firmly establishing itself among the top five global economies, a feat he attributed to the comprehensive, multi-sectoral reforms implemented by his government over the past decade.
Addressing the NDTV World Summit 2025, the Prime Minister highlighted key policy changes across the financial, taxation, and technology sectors, arguing that these foundational shifts have democratized access, streamlined processes, and ensured India’s financial inclusivity on a global scale.
Banking Reforms: Democratizing Access and Correcting Historical Wrongs
Speaking on the significant overhaul of the banking sector, Prime Minister Modi drew a sharp contrast between the goals of past policies and the outcomes achieved by his administration. He recalled that the nationalization of banks during former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s tenure was justified with the reasoning that banking must reach the poor. However, he lamented, the outcome was the opposite, with banks becoming increasingly inaccessible to the common populace.
“When we came to power in 2014, half of India’s population did not have a bank account,” the Prime Minister stated. His government’s response was to fundamentally “democratize the banking system” by launching a mission-mode initiative that resulted in the opening of over 500 million Jan Dhan accounts. This massive financial inclusion drive, coupled with broader reforms in the banking sector, has integrated a significant portion of the previously unbanked population into the formal financial ecosystem.
Furthermore, he emphasized the transformative power of digital transactions, which have been supercharged by these reforms. This push for digitization has positioned India as one of the most financially inclusive nations globally.
Tax Simplification and GST: Ensuring Savings and Boosting the Economy
The Prime Minister also lauded the structural reforms in the taxation system, specifically citing the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and various income tax changes. These reforms, he claimed, have guaranteed savings of ₹2.5 lakh crore.
The impact of the GST framework has been particularly evident in economic activity. Prime Minister Modi noted that festive season sales, buoyed by the GST structure, have broken all previous records. He detailed the multi-faceted benefits of the GST reforms, which include a reduction in prices, smoother credit flow, resolution of tax inversion issues, and a significant decrease in disputes. Collectively, these benefits have led to lower costs for both producers and consumers, injecting efficiency and predictability into the supply chain.
BSNL and Indigenous Tech: A Leap in Connectivity
The technology and telecom sectors, often seen as a barometer of a nation’s development, were also a focus of the Prime Minister’s address. He praised the turnaround of the state-owned telecom company, BSNL. Highlighting a major technological achievement, he announced that India is now among the top five nations globally to possess its own sovereign 4G technology.
This indigenous 4G technology, dubbed the ‘Bharat Telecom Stack,’ has been successfully deployed across approximately 100,000 BSNL towers. This deployment has dramatically improved internet connectivity in rural and remote areas, simultaneously expanding the country’s overall broadband penetration. Crucially, the Prime Minister pointed out that this technology is now mature and ready for global export, signaling India’s arrival as a major player in telecom technology development.
UPI: A Global Success Story in Digital Payments
Finally, Prime Minister Modi dedicated a significant portion of his speech to the unprecedented success of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI). He noted that India had defied global skepticism and proven critics wrong, with the nation now accounting for 50% of the world’s total digital transactions.
“UPI has firmly established its position in the global digital payment market,” he stated, underscoring the platform’s user-friendliness, interoperability, and the speed at which it has been adopted by the masses. The success of UPI is not merely a domestic achievement; it is a model that is increasingly being explored and adopted by other nations, further solidifying India’s role as a leader in FinTech innovation.
Concluding his remarks, Prime Minister Modi framed India’s journey over the past decade as a powerful narrative of transformation—from economic vulnerability to robust global leadership, driven by a commitment to bold reforms and inclusive growth. The comprehensive changes in banking, taxation, and technology have not only elevated India’s economic standing but have also fundamentally improved the lives of hundreds of millions of its citizens.