PM Modi: ‘I am a person who works on deadlines, not on headlines’

PM Modi says: “Our country has about 1.25 lakh registered start-ups” (Document)

New Delhi:

A day after the Election Commission (EC) notified the date for the Lok Sabha polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi set the tone for an expected third term, saying he was working on deadlines and not headlines.

in keynote speech India Today Conclave “Whenever I attend such conclave, the audience expects that what I say will make headlines,” Prime Minister Modi said in the national capital on Saturday. “However, I am a person who works hard on deadlines and not Headlines. So I might make some points that might not be very appealing to the media.”

He said he hopes to expand some of the center’s welfarist initiatives, which rarely appear in newsprint or are widely reported by broadcast media.

Prime Minister Modi said: “There are some measures that are rarely reported by the media, but these are issues that are closely related to ordinary people.”

He said there are an estimated 1.25 lakh registered start-ups in India and the most striking feature is that they are evenly distributed across 600 districts in the country.

“When it comes to startups, there were only a handful of them 10 years ago. However, today, our country has about 125,000 registered startups. But it is not the sheer numerical strength of these startups that determines their identity. It is noteworthy that these Startups are evenly spread across over 600 districts, covering 90% of the country’s geographical area,” said Prime Minister Modi.

Dispelling the notion that Indian startups are mainly concentrated in Bengaluru, known as the IT capital of India, Prime Minister Modi said the even distribution of the startup ecosystem showed that small-town youth were driving the startup boom in the country.

“There is a view that our startups are mainly concentrated in Bengaluru. There are startups in more than 600 districts in the country, which shows that youth from tier-II and tier-III cities invest in them. Our entrepreneurial spirit and success among small-town youth is driving the country’s entrepreneurial boom,” he said.

In a veiled swipe at the Congress, Prime Minister Modi said: “A party that rarely thought it worth talking about start-ups before is being forced to talk about them today.”

Prime Minister Modi said the scheme, which expands the Centre’s flagship MUDRA Yojana, under which banks provide loans up to Rs 10 lakh to non-corporate, non-agricultural small or micro enterprises, has created a new dimension for self-employment in India. way. Countries and young people who previously had nothing to mortgage can now easily take advantage of cheap credit facilities.

“MUDRA Yojana is a scheme that brings an unexpected change in local employment and self-employment opportunities. In previous years, our youth had to provide valuables as security for bank loans.

However, under MUDRA Yojana, even those who do not have anything to pledge or provide security can now avail secured bank loans. This is a revolutionary change,” PM Modi said.

He said several beneficiaries of the MUDRA scheme had successfully started businesses for the first time.

“Bank loans worth Rs 2,600 crore have been disbursed to small businesses without security. Among the beneficiaries of MUDRA of Rs 8 crore are those who are starting businesses for the first time,” he added.

Talking about PM-SWANidhi, a microfinance scheme that provides hand-holding support to street vendors, PM Modi said: “There is another similar scheme called PM-SWANidhi. Under this scheme, street vendors can Get a loan easily and with no fees.” I know from my own experience that poor people can get rich, but rich people can also get poor. “

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)