New Delhi: Asserting reforms are a matter of conviction and not compulsion for his government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said the ruling dispensation is ready to take the biggest risk in the interest of the nation.


Prime Minister Modi emphasized the Centre is able to undertake difficult reforms because for this government reforms are a matter of conviction not compulsion.


Referring to the initiatives taken during the Parliament session like the Factoring Regulation Amendment Bill and the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation Amendment Bill, he said such measures will give a boost to the government’s efforts.


Addressing the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Annual Meeting 2021 via video conferencing, Prime Minister Modi said that by rectifying the mistakes of the past, the government did away with the Retrospective Taxation.


“Going by the praise by the industry, the initiative will strengthen the trust between the government and the industry,” he added.


Prime Minister Modi said today there is a government in the country which is ready to take the biggest risk in the interest of the nation.


He emphasized that GST was stuck for so many years only because the previous governments could not muster up the courage to take political risks.


“We are not only implementing GST but today we are also witnessing record GST collection,” he said.


Stating the CII meeting is taking place on the eve of the 75th Independence Day in the midst of the ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ Prime Minister Modi said this is a huge opportunity for new resolutions and for new goals of the Indian industry.


Asserting the major responsibility for the success of the self-reliant India campaign lies on Indian industries, the Prime Minister lauded the industry for their resilience during the Covid-19 pandemic.


Prime Minister Modi asked the industry to take full advantage of the atmosphere of trust for India’s development and capabilities.


Making a note of the changes in the approach of the current government and change in the ways of working of the current setup, the Prime Minister stressed that the new India of today is ready to march with the new world.


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“India, which was apprehensive of foreign investment at one point of time, is welcoming investments of all types today. Similarly, tax policies used to induce despondency among the investors, the same India can boast of the world’s most competitive corporate tax and faceless tax system,” he said.


Prime Minister Modi further said red-tapism of the past has been replaced by a significant rise in the ease of doing business index.


“Similarly, rationalization of the maze of labour laws into four labour codes; agriculture, which was treated as a mere means of livelihood, is being connected with the markets through reforms. As a result, India is getting record FDI and FPI. Forex reserves are also at an all time high-level,” he added.


The Prime Minister said there was a time when foreign was synonymous with better.


“Industry big-wigs understand the consequences of such a psychology. Situation was so bad that even indigenous brands developed with great hard work were advertised with foreign names,” he added.


Prime Minister Modi further said the situation today is changing rapidly and added the trust of the countrymen is with the products made in India.


He said that today every Indian wants to adopt products made in India though the company making those products might not necessarily be Indian.


During the meeting, the industry leaders appreciated the Prime Minister’s commitment towards reforms in various sectors in order to achieve the goal of a $5 trillion economy.