Industry must invest, innovate; take advantage of Budget announcements: Modi
New Delhi (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday asked the industry to come forward with investment and innovation, and exhorted financial institutions to help them with practical solutions and strengthen market confidence.
Addressing a post-Budget webinar on 'Technology, Reforms and Finance for Viksit Bharat', Modi said when government, industry and knowledge partners come together, "reforms translate into results", and "announcements on paper turn into achievements on the ground".
In the last one decade, the government has laid emphasis on infrastructure, he said, adding that public capex has increased from Rs 2 lakh crore 11 years ago, to over Rs 12 lakh crore in the Union Budget 2026-27.
This high capex allocation is a signal to the private sector to come forward with new vigour, Modi said, adding that the industry should take advantage of all the 2026-27 Budget announcements.
"India Inc should come forward with fresh investment, innovation; financial institutions should help design practical solutions and improve market confidence," Modi said.
Over the past decade, India has demonstrated extraordinary resilience, the PM said, adding that this has not happened by chance but due to conviction-driven reforms.
The government has also simplified processes and made ease of doing business much simpler.
"My suggestion is that we should develop a clear 'Reform Partnership Charter' which will have collaboration between government, industry, financial institutions and academia. This charter will become an important document in the goal to achieve Viksit Bharat by 2047," he said.
Observing that the Budget is often evaluated on different parameters, Modi said "the national Budget is not a short-term trading document. It is a policy roadmap. Therefore, the effectiveness of the Budget should also be assessed on solid and substantive parameters".
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'Biggest political conspiracy': teary Arvind Kejriwal after court discharge in liquor policy case
New Delhi (PTI): An emotional Arvind Kejriwal on Friday asserted that the corruption case against him was the "biggest political conspiracy" in the history of Independent India, as a court here discharged him in the politically sensational liquor policy case.
After the court verdict, Kejriwal broke down while talking to the reporters. The AAP convener was present in the court when the order was passed.
"The court has proved that Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and AAP are 'Kattar Imaandar'," he said, accompanied by former deputy chief minister of Delhi Sisodia.
Kejriwal alleged that the "conspiracy" of the excise case was hatched to finish off AAP at the behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
"I always used to say that the god is with us. Modi ji and Amit Shah ji together hatched the biggest political conspiracy of Independent India. The five biggest leaders of AAP were sent to jail for finishing off the party," the former Delhi chief minister alleged.
First time a sitting Chief Minister was "dragged out of his home and put in jail," Kejriwal said and reminded people of his and Sisodia's jailing.
The entire case was fake, asserted Kejriwal, who was arrested in the alleged liquor scam case in March 2024 by the Enforcement Directorate.
"Mud slinging was resorted to against us. There were round-the-clock TV debates, and news was flashed that Kejriwal is corrupt," he said, breaking down.
He continued in a hoarse voice, "I have only earned honesty. They registered a fake case. Today, it's proved, the court has said 'Kejriwal Kattar Imandar Hai, Manish Sisodia Kattar Imandar Hai, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Kattar Imandar Hai.'"
The AAP supremo said he wanted to tell the prime minister not to toy with the country and the Constitution in his pursuit of power.
"If you want power, do good things. There are so many problems -- inflation, unemployment, broken down roads, pollution -- solve these problems to come to power," he said.
The AAP chief was greeted by his family at his residence on Feroz Shah Road. Party members and supporters danced to drum beats and distributed sweets.
Sunita Kejriwal, his wife, thanked the court and the judge for "bravery."
"Arvind Kejriwal led his entire life with honesty and for the progress of the country. But these people, in their greed for power, levelled fake charges, jailed his aides... But I had faith in God," she told PTI Videos.
Before the court vindication, the multi-crore-rupee corruption allegations led to the jailing of Kejriwal and Sisodia for an extended period of time.
After he went to prison, Kejriwal resigned from the post of Delhi chief minister, vowing to return to the post only when he was proven innocent.
Kejriwal became the first sitting Delhi chief minister to be arrested on March 21, 2024. He got bail from the Supreme Court on September 13 of the same year.
Sisodia, a former deputy chief minister, served around 17 months in jail before being released on bail.
On Friday, a Delhi court discharged both leaders in the excise policy-related corruption case, refusing to take cognisance of the CBI chargesheet.
Special Judge Jitendra Singh said that the chargesheet had several lacunae not supported by evidence, as he discharged 21 more besides the two Aam Aadmi Party leaders in the matter.
K Kavitha, the daughter of former Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and a leader from the Bharat Rashtra Samithi, was also among the acquitted.
The CBI has been probing alleged corruption in the formulation and execution of the erstwhile-AAP government's now-scrapped excise policy.
