Piyush Goyal urges youth to be ambitious, says Viksit Bharat by 2047 non-negotiable

New Delhi: Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday urged young people to be ambitious, embrace transformation and contribute to nation-building, saying achieving the goal of Viksit Bharat by 2047 is non-negotiable.

Delivering the keynote address at the Young Leaders Discourse Forum at Kirori Mal College here, the minister said today's youth will be the architects of India's journey to 2047 and will be in their 40s when the country celebrates 100 years of Independence.

Urging students to aim high, he said transformation requires change in mindset and continuous reinvention and stressed discipline and respect for tradition as foundation of institutions.

He also spoke about flexibility under the National Education Policy and said today's students have wider opportunities with digitalisation and 1.1 billion internet users.

Highlighting India's export performance, he further said the country recorded its highest-ever exports of $863 billion last year and has set an ambitious target of $1 trillion for the current year, representing 16 per cent growth.

India could have set a target of $900 billion or 5 per cent growth which itself would have been significant against the IMF's April-May projection of 1.9 per cent global trade growth, but chose a higher target, according to the minister.

He expressed confidence of achieving it, noting exports grew 14 per cent in April-September to $480 billion.

Goyal said the IMF has since revised global trade growth projection to around 3.5 per cent, and India's export performance could have been one of the factors behind the revision.

India has moved from being part of the fragile five to the world's fastest-growing large economy, citing a World Bank report that 50 crore people have come out of extreme poverty, he added.

He attributed growth to India's talent pool, youthful demography with average age below 30 years, democratic system, decisive leadership and demand from 140 crore Indians.

Goyal said India has earned the world's trust with countries keen on preferential and free trade agreements, and recalled India's support during COVID-19 through vaccine supplies while ensuring free vaccination at home.

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