Budget shunned populism, bets on capex to power jobs and growth: PM Modi
New Delhi (PTI): Calling productive spending a hallmark of his government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the just unveiled Union Budget deliberately avoided short-term populism and instead channelled record capital outlays into infrastructure to drive jobs and sustainable growth.
In an exclusive interview with PTI, Modi said his government has used its years in office to plug "structural gaps left behind by earlier administrations", pursued bold reforms and laid the foundations for a developed India. He asserted that the latest Budget marks the "next level" of that journey.
Describing the Budget for fiscal year starting April 1 as reflective of his governance approach, Modi said the document "is a good reflection of our governance style and priorities".
"This Budget represents the next level in this journey, imparting momentum to our 'Reform Express.' It is designed to accelerate momentum and prepare our youth for the opportunities of a rapidly changing world," the prime minister told PTI.
He cited the pre-Budget Economic Survey to state that capital accumulation, labour formalisation, and digital public infrastructure together have elevated India' potential growth rate to 7 per cent.
"Productive spending has been a hallmark of our government. The high capital expenditure reflects our focus on infrastructure and capital investment, which are strong engines for long-term growth," he said in the written interview to PTI.
The FY27 Budget sharply scales up capital expenditure to Rs 12.2 lakh crore - a 5-times increase compared to 2013 - as the Modi government reinforces its strategy of prioritising infrastructure creation, logistics expansion and investment in sunrise sectors to drive long-term growth. It lays emphasis on spending on rail, roads, digital and energy infrastructure, alongside measures to ease compliance and improve credit flow as the central lever for job creation and economic momentum.
"This reflects a conscious strategic choice to invest in assets that create productivity, jobs, and future economic capacity rather than short-term populism. This shows that our focus is on improving the quality of life for the people, creating jobs for our youth and advancing the nation's progress towards Viksit Bharat," Modi said.
For a long time, the prime minister said, high-quality infrastructure had been neglected, posing a challenge for the people and Indian businesses.
"Broken and outdated infrastructure has no place in a nation that aspires to create a Viksit Bharat," he said.
"Therefore, we revolutionised the sector with our speed, scale and focus on creating next-gen infrastructure, while upgrading the existing infrastructure. In the last decade or so, India has seen perhaps the most expansive infrastructure-building effort in our history, an unprecedented emphasis on quality! The most important aspect of this has been the way we have created infrastructure with the future in mind."
Highlighting the scale of expansion, he said the number of airports has doubled as orders for thousands of aircraft are placed, number of cities with metro services has more than quadrupled, rural roads and internet connectivity are expanding rapidly, and investments made in the transformational expansion of freight corridors, ports, and coastal connectivity.
On sectoral allocations, he said a capital outlay of almost Rs 3 lakh crore has been made for Indian Railways, with a priority on high-speed connectivity, freight capacity, and passenger safety. Seven new high-speed rail corridors are proposed to be developed to connect major Indian cities, including the South High-Speed Diamond corridor, which will significantly benefit Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Puducherry.
At the same time, Dedicated Freight Corridors are being expanded to decongest passenger routes and reduce logistics costs for industry.
Allocations for national highways have increased nearly 500 per cent compared to a decade ago.
Highlighting investments in emerging sectors, Modi said investments are being made in sunrise sectors, including biopharma, semiconductors, electronics component manufacturing, rare earth corridors, and chemical parks. "These will provide a new impetus to jobs and investment while strengthening India’s future."
Emphasising governance reforms, the prime minister said, "An important feature of this budget has been our continued stress on trust-based governance. Across sectors, ministries, and processes, we are massively reducing paperwork, decriminalising offences, and reducing compliance requirements. This is because we envisage the state as an enabler, and we trust the citizens. This will have a far deeper impact on people’s lives than the numbers in typical budgets."
Modi said his government had built "an inclusive, tech-driven yet human-centric welfare architecture that reaches the last mile and leaves no one behind," with nation-building and economic strengthening as its guiding principles.
Recalling his call from the Red Fort - 'Yahi Samay Hai, Sahi Samay Hai' (now is the time, the right time) - Modi said the sense of urgency had now become a "national conviction".
"The 'now is the time' sense of purpose that you are alluding to has always been there within us. But today, that sense of urgency has become a national conviction, a whole-of-society resolve," he said.
Describing India's positioning in a changing global order, Modi said, "We are living in a post-pandemic world order that is opening new doors for India; countries eager to partner with us in trade and innovation, we have a young and increasingly skilled population; and we are focusing on strong growth accompanied by low inflation and macroeconomic stability."
Framing the Budget in long-term terms, he said the document should not be seen just as Budget 2026. "This is the first budget in the second quarter of the 21st century. This budget consolidates the gains made since 2014 and builds upon them to impart momentum for the next quarter-century."
"Just as the decisions and initiatives taken in the 1920s laid the foundation for independence in 1947, the decisions we are taking now are laying the foundation for Viksit Bharat by 2047," he added.
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India 'very successful' emerging economy; right place to host AI summit: UN Chief Guterres
United Nations (PTI): India is a "very successful" emerging economy with a bigger influence in global affairs, and is the “right place” to host the AI summit, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said.
In an exclusive interview with PTI at the UN Headquarters ahead of the India–AI Impact Summit 2026, Guterres underscored that Artificial Intelligence should benefit the entire world and not just be a privilege reserved for developed nations or two superpowers.
“I strongly congratulate India for organising this Summit. It's absolutely essential that AI develops itself to the benefit of everybody, everywhere and that countries in the Global South are part of the benefits of AI,” he said.
The high-powered event being held from February 16 to 20 will be the first-ever AI summit hosted in the Global South and is anchored in the three guiding principles of ‘People, Planet and Progress’.
Guterres, who will be travelling to India to attend the Summit, asserted “it would be totally unacceptable that AI would be just a privilege of the most developed countries or a division only between two superpowers”, an apparent reference to the US and China.
“It is absolutely essential that AI becomes a universal instrument for the benefit of humankind,” Guterres said.
“The role of India, (which) is today a very successful emerging economy that is having a bigger and bigger role in not only the global economy but in its influence in global affairs, India is the right place to have this Summit and to make sure that AI (is) being discussed in depth, in all its enormous potential and also in all its risks, but that AI belongs to the whole world and not only to a few,” he said.
From world leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, to technology honchos, including Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, the Summit is bringing together leaders, policymakers and innovators from across the world for deep-dive discussions on the way forward for AI.
Guterres had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi late last year on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Johannesburg and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar when he was in New York.
Underlining his strong advocacy for multipolarity, Guterres highlighted India’s contribution in a multipolar world, saying he looks forward to discussing this with the Indian leadership during his visit to New Delhi.
"There are two things we need to avoid in the world. We need to avoid the system in which there is total hegemony by only one power or a system in which the world is divided between two superpowers,” he said.
Guterres added that he is a “very strong advocate” of the need for true multipolarity in the world.
For true multipolarity, it is important for emerging economies to have a “higher and higher” role and to establish a “stronger and stronger” network of trade, technological and international cooperation relations.
In this regard, he said the recent trade agreement between India and the European Union is a “good example”. “India is one of the most relevant emerging economies,” he said.
"We are seeing across the world, more and more, the creation of a network of, I would say, all developed countries but also, and very importantly, emerging economies creating a true multipolarity without any hegemony, and allowing, then, multilateral organisations to be effective,” he said.
Emphasising the importance of multipolarity, Guterres spoke about his “frustration” over the failure of the UN Security Council to address conflicts and maintain international peace and security.
"When one looks at the UN, you can imagine my frustration when I see the Security Council unable to take decisions, and it is clear that we need a fundamental reform of the Security Council, first of all, to represent the world as it is today and not after the Second World War. And second, to be able to take effective decisions for peace and security around the world,” he said.
Guterres added that for a "fair" multilateral system, both in the UN and international financial institutions, emerging economies need to have a stronger voice and be at the centre of this networking.
"I see India in the centre of those emerging economies, and this is something I would be delighted to discuss with Prime Minister Modi because I have a lot of hope for the role that India can play in shaping this multipolar world,” he said.
At the Summit, Guterres will be joined by senior UN leaders, including UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk and Under-Secretary-General and UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology Amandeep Singh Gill.
Guterres further underlined that “it is always fantastic” to go to India, “a democracy with an enormous diversity and extraordinary civilisation and culture.”
The UN chief elaborated that he is currently reading about how India, for centuries, has been the main factor of transformation of the world, “starting hundreds of years before Christ and going on for centuries, with an enormous influence of Indian culture, of Indian civilisation that we can see in China, Southeast Asia, the Indian Ocean."
"Even in the time of the Roman Empire, there were very strong connections with India and a very important influence of Indian culture in what is today the Mediterranean area.
“So it is always an enormous pleasure to visit India,” Guterres said.
