PM Modi urges India Inc. to step up investment push to drive next phase of growth

New Delhi: With the government having done much of the heavy lifting through an aggressive capex push in recent years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said it is now time for the private sector to step up, invest boldly and drive the next phase of innovation-led, globally-competitive growth.

In an exclusive interview to PTI, Modi said his government has used its years in office to plug the "structural gaps left behind by earlier administrations", pursue bold reforms and lay the foundations for a developed India.

Asserting that the just-unveiled annual budget marks the "next level" of that journey, he said the FY27 Budget sharply scales up capital expenditure to Rs 12.2 lakh crore -- a five-time increase compared to 2013 -- reinforcing the government's strategy of prioritising infrastructure creation, logistics expansion and investment in sunrise sectors to drive long-term growth.

It lays emphasis on spending on rail, roads, digital and energy infrastructure, alongside measures to ease compliance and improve the credit flow as the central lever for job creation and economic momentum, the prime minister said.

"However, I want to use this opportunity to make a request to the dynamic private corporate sector. Policy can only create the enabling framework. The next phase of transformation requires a decisive response from the private sector," he said in the written interview.

"Indian firms must invest more aggressively in research and development, adopt frontier technologies, deepen supply-chain capabilities and compete on quality and productivity rather than on protected margins," Modi added.

The prime minister went on to state that incentives and tariff preferences can catalyse growth, but durable competitiveness must rest on innovation, efficiency and scale.

Over the last 10 years, the government has anchored India's growth strategy around record capital expenditure, sharply scaling up spending on highways, railways, ports, airports, digital infrastructure and energy networks to crowd in private investment and lift medium-term productivity. However, the private sector is yet to unleash the so-called animal spirit.

Modi called on India's private corporate sector to step up and match the government's reform push with bold investments and innovation-led growth.

He stressed that the benefits of higher productivity must be widely shared to ensure durable and socially-legitimate growth.

"Equally, as productivity rises, the gains must be shared fairly between workers, shareholders and owner-managers. Sustainable growth requires social legitimacy. Rising real wages, skill upgrading and stable employment reinforce domestic demand and social cohesion, which, in turn, support long-term investment," he said.

The State has focussed on infrastructure, macro stability, regulatory reforms and trade access, the prime minister asserted.

"The next leap toward Viksit Bharat by 2047 will depend on how boldly Indian enterprise invests in innovation, builds long-term capacity and positions itself as a globally-competitive, technologically-confident and socially-responsible engine of growth," he said.