At the ET World Leaders Forum 2025, Times Internet Chairman Satyan Gajwani affirmed that Prime Minister Modi's call for self-reliance is yielding significant results amidst a transforming global landscape. Gajwani highlighted India's steady resilience despite global instability, describing the nation as "daring, responsible, diligent and with a dil that craves much more". He positioned India as both responsible and ambitious, ready to tackle challenges at home and abroad.

Gajwani emphasized the necessity for India to balance self-reliance with global cooperation in an increasingly unstable world order. He lauded Operation Sindoor as a "reset" of India's response under Prime Minister Modi's leadership and also noted reforms like the planned GST revamp. According to Gajwani, India's strengths lie in its talent, infrastructure, community, and knowledge, with the world's largest middle class powering its domestic market. He expressed confidence in India's ability to evolve, believing this is the nation's moment to have faith in its history, people, and capacity to adapt.

India's economic journey, shaped by global trade and financial shifts, has reached a critical point. Despite a slowing global economy and unpredictable financial conditions, India must navigate external challenges while boosting domestic resilience. Gajwani cautioned that global dynamics are rapidly shifting, requiring a careful evaluation of long-held assumptions and friendships. He stressed that global cooperation must go hand in hand with global aspiration, with self-reliance not equating to isolation.

PM Modi has been championing the lessons learned from recent global events for years. Gajwani pointed out that even global supply chains, once considered stable, are no longer certain. He also observed "highly disrupting policy moves from those once held as the global guarantors of stability," which he warned threaten the rules-based order.

PM Modi asserted that India is driving global growth and is ready to unleash an "arsenal of reforms" on multiple fronts, underlining the need to be self-reliant. He stated that reforms are not a compulsion or crisis-driven but a commitment and conviction, taking a holistic approach for each sector. He referred to measures taken by the government, including a new income tax law, the Jan Vishwas Bill, reforms in the mining and shipping sectors, and an overhaul of the GST architecture.

India is projected to be the fastest-growing major economy in 2025, fueled by both domestic and external factors. While forecasts indicate a 6.5 percent growth rate in 2025, achieving the higher rates necessary to compete with China poses a challenge. To become a developed nation by 2047, India must achieve an annual growth rate of 8 percent or more.

Gajwani highlighted India's strengths such as talent, infrastructure, community, and knowledge as key drivers for long-term growth, with the nation able to turn crises into opportunities. He also noted the government's reforms, a strong domestic market, and decisive leadership, positioning India as a responsible and ambitious global player. Reforms will unleash the "wild spirits within us," he said. India's people remain its biggest strength, from scientists sending missions to Mars to Indian-origin CEOs leading multinational corporations and entrepreneurs shaping new industries.

India's push for self-reliance, or "Atmanirbhar Bharat," is gaining momentum, partly in response to concerns about overdependence on other nations. The initiative promotes Indian goods in the global supply chain markets. The Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, with a budget of approximately Rs. 1.97 lakh crore across 13 sectors, aims to establish India's manufacturing global leadership and boost the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan.

India has already achieved its target of generating 50 percent of its total power capacity from non-fossil fuels by 2030, achieving this goal in 2025 itself. Solar power generation capacity has increased significantly, and the government is investing in nuclear energy and the National Green Hydrogen Mission.