Now Reading: India will be third-largest economy soon, says Rajnath Singh
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India will be third-largest economy soon, says Rajnath Singh
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Wednesday that India is among the world's top five economies and will soon become the third largest, despite a global crisis that delayed the milestone. Speaking…
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Wednesday that India is among the world's top five economies and will soon become the third largest, despite a global crisis that delayed the milestone. Speaking at the inauguration of the Martyrs' Memorial in Goa's Patradevi village, Singh noted that without the recent US-Iran war, India would have reached third place within six months to a year.
Singh highlighted a surge in indigenous defence production, from a few thousand crore rupees to Rs 1.80 lakh crore, and said defence exports rose from around Rs 600 crore to approximately Rs 50,000 crore after the BJP-led government took office in 2014. He emphasised that women now serve as fighter pilots and lead in defence, space and startups.
He urged citizens to preserve constitutional values and national unity, and called on the youth to shoulder responsibility for the nation's future.
Indian Opinion Analysis
The defence minister's remarks come amid official data showing India's GDP growth outpacing many peers, but the World Bank still ranks India fifth behind Germany and Japan. The reference to a US-Iran war as the global crisis is unusual for a minister, given that the conflict did not escalate into a full-blown war. The claim of defence exports hitting Rs 50,000 crore is based on government figures that include both civilian and military items under a broad classification. The actual next milestone is the government's target of Rs 3 lakh crore in defence production by 2029, which will test whether the current growth trajectory can be sustained without major new export orders.
Source: m.economictimes.com
This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
