NDTV Conclave: India, The New Business Powerhouse | Piyush Goyal | Decoding G20 Agenda
With the aim of becoming the world's third-largest economy, India is rapidly moving towards becoming a new business powerhouse. Commerce & Industry Minister Piyush Goyal sheds light on India's plans to become a $5 trillion economy.
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00:00 While the annual G20 summit has rotating presidencies, India's G20 presidency has been an outlier
00:07 for many reasons.
00:09 First, and you might be surprised to know this, the in-person participation during India's
00:14 G20 presidency has been among the largest ever.
00:18 Over 150 meetings have been held in over 40 cities across 28 states and union territories
00:26 over the last nine months.
00:28 India has proudly hosted over 12,000 delegates from more than 110 nationalities, from G20
00:35 countries, nine invitee countries, and 14 international organizations.
00:39 Along with one of the largest in-person participation, India's G20 presidency stands out for another
00:47 very important reason.
00:49 It comes at a time when the global economy is facing several challenges.
00:54 Geopolitical tensions, skyrocketing inflation, cost of living crisis in several countries,
01:00 supply disruptions, and countless economic challenges after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
01:06 Over the next few hours, we'll have insightful conversations, thought-provoking discussions,
01:12 and important addresses by the top voices behind India's G20 presidency.
01:19 It's my pleasure to introduce the first guest for the day, who's best positioned to speak
01:24 about India's aim to become a global business hub.
01:28 Please join me in welcoming Mr. Piyush Goyal, the Honorable Minister for Commerce, Industry,
01:35 Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution.
01:39 May I invite sir and NDTV's editorial director, Sonia Singh, to please come on stage for a
01:44 conversation.
01:45 Good morning, and what a wonderful way to launch NDTV's Decoding G20 Conclave with the
01:59 man who's been working silently behind the scenes and very much at the forefront of pushing
02:06 various, besides G20, but also trade agreements, is the Honorable Minister for Commerce, Piyush
02:12 Goyal.
02:13 We're back from Jaipur after a very successful trade minister's meet.
02:16 Thank you so much for joining us today on the conclave, Mr. Goyal.
02:20 But of course, first, what a wonderful week it's been for India.
02:24 And I think Chandrayaan 3 and India being on the moon, and the fact that the world's
02:28 most powerful leaders are going to be in India next week, has really all come together to
02:34 showcase where India is in the world today.
02:38 Thank you, Sonia, and a very good morning to all the viewers of NDTV.
02:47 It's indeed a matter of great pride that our scientists have finally taken us to the moon
02:58 and taken us in grand style.
03:00 We are the first country in the world to ever land on the solar south surface, on the moon's
03:08 south surface.
03:10 And in a manner of speaking, that's reflective of the new India, the emerging, confident
03:17 India that we are seeing on the world stage.
03:21 As you rightly pointed out, this has been a week of many celebrations.
03:25 The Prime Minister, in fact, landed directly at Bangalore from Greece to compliment and
03:32 be with all the scientists.
03:35 And I think when you look at the G20 in the context of India's emerging strength on the
03:42 global stage, the Chandrayaan 3 landing was a very appropriate beginning to the next fortnight
03:50 of engagements, celebrities, and India's own presence at the world stage.
03:59 We just had the G20 trade and investment ministers meeting in Jaipur, and it started just a day
04:07 after the landing.
04:09 And I promise you, the entire world's leaders from the trade and industry side were completely
04:19 in awe of the India story.
04:22 They're looking at India's leading global growth.
04:27 They're looking at India to provide leadership to the world economy.
04:31 They're looking at India bringing sanity to the progress of mankind.
04:37 They're looking at India to bring inclusivity as we proceed towards greater good of mankind.
04:45 And therefore, the India G20 presidency and its theme of a Sudhaiva Kutumbakam, the world
04:52 is one family, very appropriately fits into the broken world's desire to get back into
05:01 harmony.
05:03 The one earth, one family, one future is going to be the defining theme that the world is
05:09 going to converge on.
05:11 And I have no doubt in my mind that Prime Minister Modi will provide leadership to the
05:16 global effort to bring peace and harmony to the world.
05:20 It's interesting because, Mr. Goel, if we just look back at this one year, when it first
05:24 came that India was getting the G20 presidency, there were those who said, well, you know,
05:29 this happens and it's a routine thing.
05:31 But India in this one year has really redefined what the G20 presidency means.
05:36 We've just heard this Amitabh Khan say, in a sense, the G20 and India's presidency is
05:41 now more powerful than the UN Security Council.
05:43 Is this a sign of India not accepting the current global way that multilateral organizations
05:50 are run, that there has to be reform and India has to be the center stage of that reform
05:55 when we look at global organizations?
05:57 Well, very clearly, Prime Minister Modi, ever since 2014-15, when India played a very important
06:05 role at the Paris summit, at COP21, and helped bring the world together to agree on the Paris
06:15 declarations, has over the last several years taken a leadership role, bringing together
06:23 the global south, the less developed countries, the developing and emerging economies, and
06:29 provided voice to their aspirations and their future.
06:35 We saw that on several forums.
06:38 We saw that at the WTO MC12 held in Geneva last year, where an almost collapsed WTO ministerial
06:48 was retrieved thanks to the guidance given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the leadership
06:54 that we were able to demonstrate, and all of this centers around trust.
07:02 What Prime Minister Modi has done is earned the trust for India from the rest of the world,
07:09 and that trust is certainly the defining factor of our G20 presidency.
07:15 As was just mentioned, the G20 grouping represents nearly 85% of the world's GDP.
07:24 In fact, only yesterday at the B20 summit, which is also very, very widely represented
07:31 by 55 countries who have participated in our B20, probably the largest business engagement
07:38 that India has seen in so many years, we had 15 trade ministers on one stage, representing
07:46 I think nearly 80 to 85 trillion dollars of global economy.
07:53 And that is the power, that is the strength that India has offered to the world.
07:57 The fact that we can bring diverse opinions on one stage, we can collectively agree on
08:05 almost every issue related to trade and industry, amongst other things, and the fact that despite
08:11 all the challenges that the world is facing, India has been able to save and accept the
08:18 geopolitical issue, bring convergence in all our tracks, convergence on issues, bring a
08:25 new dimension to the future, and offer to the world a stage, a platform, which will
08:32 help redefine the boundaries of world growth, redefine the potential of international trade.
08:41 And in that sense, the leadership role that India has achieved is true testimony to the
08:47 sheer grit and potential of 140 crore Indians.
08:52 Because it has been an extremely tough negotiation as well.
08:56 We see all the events, but we're not looking at all the backroom hard negotiations happening.
09:00 Even the trade ministers meet the successful one you talked about, didn't have a communique
09:04 because of disagreement on a paragraph on Ukraine.
09:07 We've heard what the US ambassador said about Ukraine.
09:09 Do you expect that in the communique for the G20 Heads of State Summit, that this is going
09:15 to be an insurmountable problem?
09:18 Well, nothing in life is insurmountable.
09:21 I think we are all optimists.
09:25 And today, this young India with such an exceptionally attractive young demographic profile under
09:33 30, which over the next 30 years is going to continue to remain under 30, and possibly
09:40 add to global economy as a contribution from India, $30 trillion.
09:47 We are looking at growing from three and a half trillion to 35 trillion in the next 25
09:52 years.
09:53 I think this resurgent India today offers a beacon of hope that nothing is impossible.
09:59 We are going to persevere, and we are still very confident that we'll be able to bring
10:04 convergence.
10:06 You must note that almost all the tracks came out with an outcome document and Chairs text.
10:12 It was not just a Chairs text.
10:14 There were significant outcomes, including in our meeting yesterday, where we came up
10:20 with a Jaipur call for action, which will support the MSMEs in a big way in India.
10:26 We came out with significant agreement amongst all countries, all member and invited countries,
10:33 that we will look at digitization in this interconnected world so that global trade
10:38 can be paperless.
10:40 And we were also able to look at convergence on mapping global value chains to make them
10:47 more resilient.
10:48 Now, such significant tasks for the future reflect very well on our ability to steer
10:56 different viewpoints, different thoughts on the table.
11:00 And while, of course, there is the geopolitical issue on which convergence at our ministerial
11:07 level was not possible, I'm sure given Mr. Modi's astute leadership and his popularity,
11:14 the command that he has amongst world leaders, the friendships that he has forged with world
11:21 leaders, we will see some good outcomes coming out of the Leaders Summit early next month.
11:28 I'm very confident it's going to be a one-of-a-kind G20 summit, just as over the year, not in
11:35 40 cities, but actually over 55 cities, representing every state in the country, every union territory
11:43 of the country.
11:44 We had close to 200 meetings between the working groups and the ministerials and engagement
11:51 groups.
11:52 We had over 100,000 people coming from all over the world to visit India.
11:58 I would think today every single Indian, be it somebody in the remotest villages of India,
12:06 recognizes and respects India's pole position in the global order.
12:11 And therefore, I think it's a matter of great pride that we have taken the G20 to the next
12:16 level.
12:17 Very often, programs bring luster to the country.
12:21 I think India has been able to add luster to the G20 itself.
12:25 No, and I think that fact is really interesting that when we talk about how the G20 actually
12:32 has been taken to, as you said, over 60 cities, it's actually part of a domestic political
12:36 campaign as well with elections coming up.
12:38 How has the Modi government and all of you, ministers like yourselves, made this actually
12:43 about an average Indian voter even cares about the G20, which earlier was only in Delhi's
12:49 corridors and Hyderabad house?
12:50 Well, that's exactly what Prime Minister Modi has been saying for the last nine years.
12:54 We have to get out of the Khan market and Lutyens Delhi culture.
12:59 I think it's high time NDTV also got out of the Khan market viewpoint and the limited
13:06 sphere of thinking.
13:09 I'm indeed very delighted that you have taken the lead to have a conclave to enlighten the
13:18 country about the G20, to decode the very minor intricacies and also showcase the huge
13:27 potential that such a summit has in terms of our future.
13:31 I'll give you a, first of all, it's not about elections.
13:35 Prime Minister Narendra Modi from 2014 has given all his ministerial colleagues very,
13:41 very clear direction that we are going to work for the people of India.
13:46 We are going to do what is good for India.
13:49 It's not about elections.
13:51 Elections will come and go.
13:52 We will win elections thanks to the good work that Prime Minister Modi has done.
13:57 We will win elections because the people of India like the work he's done, trust his intention,
14:05 trust the fact that India has emerged from the shadows of a fragile five economy to one
14:10 of the top five economies.
14:12 We are confident that in his next term, we'll take India to the third largest economy and
14:17 by 2047 will be a developed nation, a prosperous nation with inclusive growth for 140 growth
14:27 Indians.
14:28 So I think it's not about elections.
14:30 It's about involvement.
14:31 It's about including the people of India in what is good for India.
14:36 And I think that's where the rules of the game have got redefined.
14:40 Today India is not about what Delhi talks about, what Delhi decides, what Delhi thinks.
14:47 India today is bottom up.
14:49 India thinks what the villages of India want.
14:52 India thinks what the poorest of poor deserves and desires.
14:57 And that's why our entire philosophy over nine years has been taking goodness, taking
15:04 welfare, taking the benefits and fruits of development to the common man.
15:10 And that's India's strength today.
15:12 And in fact, even just coming back to when the Ukraine invasion began, India took a very
15:18 strong stand on its view that it refused to go with the Western way.
15:21 It refused to be pinned into a hole on what its statements or what its stance should be.
15:27 We've seen over the last one year there's been a change in the US especially and the
15:31 West on how they first wanted, almost condemnatory in their statements against India's stand,
15:36 to now a sense of more acceptance or recognition that it's the India way, as the foreign minister
15:40 has been saying.
15:41 Do you think that's been the big change?
15:43 We've seen the expansion of BRICS as well just last week.
15:46 Also the fact that President Xi will be here in India as well as of now.
15:51 President Putin not coming.
15:52 But how do you think that one year has played out geopolitically because that really is
15:57 where India is creating an India way?
15:59 Well, India always stands for peace and harmony and not today.
16:05 For centuries and I think millenniums, India has been a country which has been a beacon
16:12 of hope and enlightenment for people across the world.
16:17 And India has consistently taken the stand that this is not an era of war.
16:22 Prime Minister Modi in fact gave leadership at Bali during the Indonesian presidency and
16:29 helped the world converge that dialogue and diplomacy will be the way forward.
16:34 And I think that's truly been India's strength.
16:38 The fact that he's one sane voice amongst a lot of different viewpoints who's able to
16:46 bring convergence in the world thinking that we have to have peace in the world for progress.
16:54 Our bigger challenges are poverty.
16:56 Our bigger challenges are meeting the sustainable development goals.
17:00 Our bigger challenges are to address the needs of a young world which is not desirous of
17:11 problems but is desirous of all the good things of life for their families and for the future.
17:17 Of course, but as the G20 talks about greater economic ties across borders globally, we've
17:22 seen that countries across the world, whether it's the US and now India, imposing protectionist
17:27 curbs on say laptop imports, etc.
17:29 Also that you've seen global food prices rising at a record high.
17:34 What is the impact on India and what is behind the government's logic of imposing protectionist
17:39 duties, whether it's on laptop curbs and export duties on onions?
17:43 I think it's a matter of perspective, whether it's protectionist duties or they are fair
17:49 and equitable trade practices.
17:52 There's also the security element and clearly the laptop restrictions emerge out of security
17:59 concerns.
18:00 Each one of your viewers uses laptops all the time.
18:04 I see programs on NDTV on technology and articulating the intricacies and all the good that technology
18:12 can bring in also at times, warning people about the pitfalls of technology.
18:27 India certainly is not a protectionist country, but India respects that there have to be transparent
18:33 rules of trade.
18:35 And wherever we find that countries are not giving a level playing field to Indian businesses,
18:40 wherever we find that Indian businesses are discriminated due to maybe undeclared or undisclosed
18:49 subsidies or non-tariff barriers, the India of today is not a weak India.
18:56 The India of today retaliates.
18:57 The India of today takes action.
18:59 The India of today stands with our MSMEs, with our domestic manufacturing or other capabilities.
19:06 And therefore, when you view this in the lens of reciprocity, you will find that India actually
19:14 is probably the most transparent in its trading practices, the most fair in its openness,
19:22 yet an opportunity for growth.
19:26 Opportunity for India, because today we don't allow anybody to take Indian industry on the
19:32 wrong end of the stick.
19:33 We are making sure that Indian business, Indian industry gets a level playing field.
19:38 Right.
19:39 And as we have the B-20, India's future is really going to shape the world's future.
19:43 Thank you so much, Mr. Piyush Goyal, Honorable Minister, for decoding the Modi government's
19:47 vision of G-20.
19:49 Thank you very much.
19:50 Thank you, Sonia.
19:51 Bye-bye.
19:51 Thank you.
19:54 Bye-bye.
19:56 Bye-bye.
19:58 Bye-bye.
19:59 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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