India / India has beaten all odds to battle the COVID-19 pandemic: PM Modi

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said there would be more Made-in-India vaccines soon as the country continued to save lives by exporting medicines and vaccines.

"India has in these times of crisis fulfilled its global responsibilities from the beginning by setting up infrastructure related to vaccination. So far only two made-in-India vaccines have been introduced, but in the future many more vaccines will be made available," PM Modi said, addressing a virtual meeting of the World Economic Forum.

Despite dire predictions, said the Prime Minister, India beat all odds in the global fight against the coronavirus.

"Last year, in February-March, a lot of experts had said the India will be the worst-affected country, there will be tsunami of cases. They predicted 2 million deaths in the country. But India moved ahead with a proactive public participation," said the PM.

"Today, India is among countries that have succeeded in saving the maximum lives. The country, which comprises of 18% of the world's population, has saved the world from disaster by bringing the situation under control."

PM Modi also said India had launched the world's biggest vaccination programme. "In just 12 days, India has vaccinated more than 2.3 million healthcare workers," he said.

"Upcoming vaccines will help other countries at a swifter pace to fight the pandemic," he added.

The Prime Minister outlined steps that his government had taken to cope with the shock of Covid, including ease of doing business and reforms.

"I want to assure the business world that the situation will now change rapidly on the economic front also," he said during a Q and A session with global CEOs in which he invited businesses from all over to participate in the country's growth.

India, he said, had focused on reforms, especially incentive based stimulus, even during the coronavirus crisis.

"Even during coronavirus, we fast-tracked structural reforms and stressed on production linked incentive schemes. Despite the pandemic, FDI increased by 13 per cent in India in 2020," he said.

India continued its economic activities with infrastructure work worth trillions of rupees, providing employment, the prime minister stressed, adding, "We stressed on saving every single life. India, now, is walking ahead to become aatmanirbhar (self-reliant)."

PM Modi invited global CEOs to invest in India under the Production-linked incentive (PLI) Scheme, saying it was expected to create a products market base worth up to $ 520 billion.

During the interaction, he also said the Covid crisis "has taught us the basics of human values and that Industry 4.0 is for humans, and not robots". Technology must be a tool for ease of living and not a trap, he remarked.