“The roadmap was for progress, for India to move forward for multiple initiatives which will create high-value impact. So the philosophy is that the government and business are working together for the good of the nation. I believe that this is an important underlying message and of course, the linking up of rural India, the strengthening of the railway, focus on agriculture and more significant is the power of women. So each one of them has a deep impact,” said Sangita Reddy, former president of FICCI and joint managing director of Apollo Hospitals.

As India turns 75, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today unfurled the national flag and addressed the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort. The focus of the speech was forward-looking...his vision for India in the next 25 years.

The Prime Minister started by lauding Indian scientists for making sure that the country is not dependent on anyone for vaccines and the slogan of 'Vocal for Local' formed the theme of his speech.

From announcing a Prime Minister Gati Shakti Plan, a 100 lakh crore national infrastructure master plan which will make a foundation for holistic infrastructure to the promise of making India energy independent in the next 25 years.

The Prime Minister acknowledged the recent success of Indian athletes in the Tokyo Olympics and re-iterated the focus on sports and education across the country. The major highlight there - girls will now be allowed in all ‘Sainik’ schools in the country.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Sangita Reddy, former president of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) & joint managing director of Apollo Hospitals; Vineet Agarwal, president of Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) & managing director of Transport Corporation of India (TCI), DK Joshi, chief economist at CRISIL and AK Bhattacharya, editorial director of Business Standard discussed at length about the Prime Minister’s vision for a new India.

“The main areas of change that are needed for ease of doing business or increasing competitiveness is land, labour, logistics amongst the most primary things. So logistics is going to be very critical when it comes to connecting, which is important because today with digitisation coming in – seamless connectivity is even more possible,” said Agarwal.

For the entire discussion, watch the video

(Edited by : Aditi Gautam)