By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, NOV 18, 2020: THE Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi invited the investors to invest in the Indian urbanization. Speaking at the 3rd Annual Bloomberg New Economy Forum today via video conferencing, the Prime Minister said “If you are looking to invest in urbanisation, India has exciting opportunities for you. If you are looking to invest in  mobility, India has exciting  opportunities for you. If you are looking to invest in  innovation, India has exciting opportunities for you. If you are looking to invest in  sustainable  solutions, India has exciting opportunities for you. These opportunities  come along-with A vibrant democracy. A business friendly climate.A huge market. And a government which shall leave no stone unturned to make India a preferred global investment destination.”

Mr Modi said that post COVID-19 world will need a  restart, however the restart will not be possible without a reset. A reset of mindset.  A reset of processes and a reset of practices. The pandemic has given us an opportunity to develop new protocols in every field. “This opportunity should be  grabbed by the world if we want to develop resilient  systems for the future. We should think about post COVID requirements of the world.  A good starting point would be the rejuvenation of our urban centers”, The Prime Minister added.

Dwelling on the theme of rejuvenation of the urban centres the Prime Minister emphasized the centrality of the people in the recovery process. Terming people as the biggest resources and the communities as the biggest building block, the Prime Minister said “the pandemic has re-emphasised that our biggest resource, as societies and  as businesses, is our people. The post-Covid world has to be built by nurturing this key and fundamental resource.”

The Prime Minister stressed the need to carry forward the learnings of the pandemic period. Talking about the cleaner environment during the lockdown period he wondered whether we can build   sustainable cities where a cleaner environment is the norm and not an exception?  “It has been   our endeavour   in India   to build   urban centres, which have the amenities of a city but the spirit of a village,” Mr Modi said.

He informed the forum about the recent initiatives for revitalizing the Indian urban landscape such as Digital India, Startup India, affordable housing, Real Estate (Regulation) Act and Metro Rail in  27 cities. “We are on track to deliver close to 1000 kms of Metro Rail system in the country by 2022,”  the Prime Minister informed the forum.

The Prime Minister said “we have selected 100 Smart Cities through a two-stage process.   It was a nationwide competition upholding  the philosophy of   cooperative    and   competitive federalism. These cities have prepared projects worth almost  two lakh crore rupees or 30 billion dollars. And projects worth almost one lakh forty thousand crore rupees or 20 billion dollars have been completed  or nearing completion.”