India’s reform momentum is firmly on track: Ashwini Vaishnaw

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday (January 22, 2026) said India’s reform momentum is firmly on track, thanks to deep structural reforms personally driven by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that have transformed the Indian economy into a fast-growing, resilient and globally trusted destination.

Speaking on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Mr Vaishnaw said significant reforms over the last few years, including labor law reforms, simplification of the Goods and Services Tax, transformations in the energy sector and the opening up of nuclear energy to the private sector, had created strong investor confidence across sectors.

A continuous reform process is going on in all sectors of the economy, he said, adding that investors are excited about the policy environment in India and are gradually expanding their commitments. He cited several examples, including IKEA announcing plans to double its investment and Qualcomm significantly expanding its workforce in India. Mr. Vaishnaw said companies across sectors are increasingly seeing the current period as an opportune time to invest in India.

Highlighting India’s macroeconomic fundamentals, he said India is the fastest growing major economy in the world today and a consistent growth target of 6-8% is envisaged over the next five years. He said the combination of moderate inflation and high growth reflected the economic transformation achieved over the last decade under Mr Modi’s leadership.

Addressing prevailing global uncertainties, the Minister emphasized the need to strengthen domestic capabilities to enhance resilience amidst geopolitical, geoeconomic and geotechnical turbulence. He said the government is focused on ensuring that all the basic building blocks of the economy are firmly in place to ensure India can cope with global disruptions.

Mr. Vaishnaw said India is systematically building its own semiconductor ecosystem, developing a comprehensive AI stack, rapidly scaling up defense manufacturing and enabling Indian IT firms to shift from traditional software services to AI-driven solutions. Collectively, these efforts have contributed to strengthening India’s economic resilience.

Stating that the global perception of India at Davos was extremely positive and the country was widely regarded as a reliable country exhibiting consistent economic growth, he said the discussions in the panels reflected a broad consensus that India’s emergence as the world’s third largest economy was now a matter of timing rather than a possibility.

He highlighted India’s inclusive growth model and said that initiatives such as opening of more than 54 crore Jan Dhan bank accounts and ensuring continuous food security to more than 80 crore beneficiaries have enabled economic growth to reach the last mile. The scale and impact of this inclusive growth model is widely recognized and appreciated across the world, the Union Minister added.