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Amid global turmoil and geopolitical tensions, the world pins hope on India as a bright spot and one of the key reasons for this is the country's growth story, which is being driven by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's four-pillar strategy, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Friday. 

Delivering the keynote address at the NDTV Indian of The Year, Ashwini Vaishnaw, who holds the Railways, Information and Broadcasting, and Electronics and Information Technology portfolios, said: "It is not a coincidence that we are growing at a sustained rate of 6-8 per cent."

"PM Modi's considered thought process and a clearly laid out plan, which rests on four pillars, are behind India's consistent growth and moderate inflation," Union Minister Vaishnaw said.

Elaborating on the first pillar of investments, the Minister said India's capital expenditure has grown from roughly Rs 3.5 lakh crore 10 years ago to Rs 11 lakh crore in the current fiscal, which is "humongous and unheard of in Independent India".

"This is leading to productivity improvement and employment growth in practically every sector. Airports have doubled and 31,000 km of railway lines have been constructed, which is more than Germany's entire network. In the last year alone, 5,300 km of railway lines have been built, more than the network of Switzerland. AIIMS and IITs have also been doubled in the past ten years," Ashwini Vaishnaw pointed out.

Speaking about the democratisation of e-payments and how even street vendors use them, the Union Minister cited an example, and said he was asked by a man from "one of the richest countries" at an international forum since India has moved so far ahead, when does it plan to do something for other nations that have been left behind.

"So, the feeling now is that India is a leader in several fields of technology, unlike the past, when it used to be a follower," Ashwini Vaishnaw said.

On innovation and manufacturing, the Union Minister said India has 1.2 lakh startups, up from 300-400 ten years ago, and over 100 unicorns, which make the country one of the world's top three startup ecosystems.

The 'Make In India' scheme, he said, has impacted everything from the engineering goods sector to the defence sector.

The third pillar of inclusive growth, Vaishnaw, said it was very important to address the economic inequality that arose because of the policies which were followed for 50-60 years.

He said PM Modi made inclusive growth an integral part of every policy and this benefited everyone, especially those at the bottom of the pyramid.

"As many as 54 crore bank accounts were opened, half of which are held by women. The number is significant because the entire population of Europe is 45 crore. So, bringing a population that is higher than the population of Europe into the banking system was an unimaginable task but it was made possible," the Minister pointed out.

"Nearly 4 crore people have got new houses and the cooking habits of 11 crore people have changed to gas -- the entire population of Japan is 11 crore, Germany's population is 8 crore. The Prime Minister's inclusive policies have benefited more people than the population of many countries," he said.

Simplification, the Railways Minister said, was brought about by policies like getting rid of colonial laws that have no relevance now.

"India's telecom sector was regulated using a law from 1885 - the Telegraph Act. As many as 1,500 laws have been removed from the statute books. New laws have been made. Steps were also taken towards compliance reduction - for instance, getting permission for a telecom tower earlier took 217 days on average, which has been reduced to seven days because of a reform brought in by PM Modi in 2021. Even among these, 89 per cent are such that you get the permissions the moment you press the 'Enter' button," he said.

Ashwini Vaishnaw said the scale and scope of work has expanded and PM Modi is focused on the poor and the middle class.

"Because of all this, we can say with a high degree of confidence that India will continue to grow at 6-8 per cent real growth, 10-14 per cent nominal growth and a very moderate inflation for the coming five years. That's the reason why when there is anti-incumbency across the world, a vibrant and vocal democracy like India has elected a government and a Prime Minister for three consecutive terms for the first time. This is because people have seen a change and transformation in their lives, he added.