Modi urges India Inc to unleash animal spirits

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday urged the Indian industry to step up investment and innovation, saying the government has laid a strong foundation through aggressive capital spending and a conducive policy environment in successive Budgets, and that it is now time for the private sector to drive the next phase of globally competitive growth.

Addressing the first post-Budget webinar on ‘Technology, Reforms and Finance for Viksit Bharat’, Modi said public capital expenditure has risen from about Rs 2 lakh crore 11 years ago to over Rs 12 lakh crore in the Union Budget 2026-27. The sharp increase, he said, signals the private sector to invest with renewed vigour and take advantage of the Budget announcements.

“India Inc should come forward with fresh investment and innovation. Financial institutions and analysts should help design practical solutions and improve market confidence,” he said, calling for closer collaboration among government, industry and knowledge partners to ensure reforms translate into tangible outcomes. Modi said there must be greater participation in infrastructure creation and innovation in financial models. “We must strengthen project sanction methodologies and improve the quality of appraisal,” he added.

Over the past decade, the government has anchored India’s growth strategy around record capital expenditure, 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 fully unleash the animal spirits. Modi said India’s economic resilience over the past decade has been driven by conviction-led reforms and sustained efforts to improve ease of doing business. He noted that technology-led governance and institutional strengthening have kept the country on a reform path.

“To sustain the reform momentum, we must focus not only on policy intent but also on delivery excellence. Reforms should be evaluated by their impact on the ground,” he said, calling for extensive use of artificial intelligence, blockchain and data analytics to improve transparency, speed and accountability.