Says “ Onus On BRICS Leaders to Scale 100 Start-Ups Across Member Markets Annually”
Make in India, Scale for World”: PM Modi Pitches India’s Growth Engine to BRICS
New Delhi| Sept, 11 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday called for a sharper, business-led economic integration among BRICS countries, setting out an ambitious three-part agenda to remove the bloc’s top 10 trade barriers, help 100 start-ups scale into other BRICS markets every year and create 1,000 new business partnerships annually.
Addressing the BRICS Business Forum in New Delhi ahead of the 18th BRICS Leaders’ Summit, Modi said the grouping’s expanding economic weight must translate into greater commercial engagement, innovation, investment and shared prosperity at a time when businesses worldwide are confronting trade barriers, geopolitical uncertainty and fragile supply chains.
“Strong business partnerships can open new avenues for growth, innovation and shared prosperity,” Modi said, urging corporate leaders, investors, entrepreneurs and innovators to move beyond broad declarations and deliver measurable results. The Prime Minister said BRICS had undergone a remarkable transformation since its launch in 2006, when it comprised four countries. Today, he said, BRICS and its partner countries together form a 21-country family representing about half the world’s population, 40 per cent of global GDP and more than 25 per cent of global trade.
Modi highlighted the economic acceleration of the grouping over the past two decades, noting that while global GDP had expanded around two-and-a-half times, the combined GDP of BRICS economies had grown nearly four-and-a-half times. “BRICS’ economic strength has grown at nearly twice the pace of the world,” he said, presenting the bloc as an increasingly consequential force in the global economy. He also described BRICS countries as emerging centres of innovation and solutions, with new possibilities developing across the spectrum from grassroots entrepreneurship to frontier technologies.
The New Delhi forum, he said, was the largest BRICS Business Forum held so far. For India, Modi said, the BRICS chairship was centred on “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability”, a theme that he linked to the country’s economic and trade policies over the past 12 years. He said India had worked to diversify and strengthen supply chains in sectors ranging from energy to technology while rapidly expanding its physical infrastructure, including roads, railways, ports and airports.
At the same time, the country was developing capabilities in strategic sectors such as shipbuilding, semiconductors, quantum technology, critical minerals and biotechnology. Pitching India as an increasingly attractive destination for manufacturing, investment and technology, Modi said the country’s proposition could be summed up in three words: “Make in India, Innovate with India, and Scale for the World.”
The Prime Minister also showcased India’s start-up ecosystem, saying the country had more than 200,000 start-ups and over 120 unicorns. Indian entrepreneurs, he said, were developing solutions in artificial intelligence, education, healthcare, green hydrogen, batteries, defence and space. He urged BRICS to build pathways through which such innovations could reach global markets, saying the “BRICS Bharat Innovates” exhibition offered a window into India’s growing technology and entrepreneurial capabilities. Modi singled out India’s digital public infrastructure as another example of innovation at population scale, citing the Unified Payments Interface as a model for expanding financial inclusion and digital transactions.
He said about half of the world’s real-time payments were taking place through technology based on UPI and argued that the open ecosystem developed around India’s digital infrastructure could offer useful experience to other BRICS countries seeking to build new digital solutions. With protectionism and economic fragmentation increasingly complicating global commerce, Modi made a strong case for lowering barriers within BRICS and expanding opportunities for businesses.
“At a time when trade barriers are rising across the world, India is building economic bridges,” he said. He said India had concluded free trade agreements with nearly 40 countries since 2014 and stressed that its approach within BRICS was similarly focused on reducing barriers and creating greater opportunities for businesses.
During India’s chairship, he said, new cooperation networks had been established in areas including agriculture, healthcare, skills and smart grids. The BRICS Incubator Network, BRICS MSME Portal and BRICS Startup Innovation Fund were among initiatives aimed at connecting start-ups and small and medium enterprises with finance and markets. Modi urged the business community to make greater use of these mechanisms and promote more cross-border flows of investment, technology and talent. He also broadened the economic agenda to include the security of maritime trade routes, arguing that the expansion of global commerce depended on safe and uninterrupted connectivity.
“Global trade can move forward only when sea lanes are secure, supply routes remain open and seafarers are safe,” Modi said, reaffirming India’s support for freedom of navigation and the safety of seafarers. The issue has particular resonance for India, given its dependence on maritime routes for a substantial share of its trade and energy supplies. Disruptions and insecurity in key waterways have demonstrated how geopolitical tensions can quickly affect shipping, supply chains, costs and economic stability.
Modi also stressed the importance of women-led businesses in the BRICS growth story, highlighting the BRICS Women’s Business Alliance and noting that nearly 200 women business leaders had participated in its meeting in India. As BRICS enters its third decade, Modi challenged the BRICS Business Council to move towards a results-oriented model of cooperation. He proposed three concrete annual benchmarks: identify and work towards removing the top 10 trade barriers among BRICS economies; help 100 BRICS start-ups scale into other member markets each year; and develop 1,000 new business partnerships annually. “These three parameters should be reviewed every year for our progress,” Modi said.
The emphasis on measurable outcomes is central to India’s effort to give a stronger economic and commercial dimension to its fourth BRICS chairship. India previously chaired the grouping in 2012, 2016 and 2021, and its 2026 presidency coincides with the 20th anniversary of BRICS and its transformation into a significantly broader grouping with an expanding footprint across the Global South.
The 18th BRICS Leaders’ Summit, scheduled in New Delhi on September 12 and 13, is taking place against a backdrop of geopolitical tensions, rising protectionism, supply-chain vulnerabilities and an intensifying debate over the future of the global economic order. For New Delhi, the business forum is also an opportunity to project India beyond its role as a vast consumer market, positioning it as a manufacturing, technology and innovation hub capable of contributing to resilient global supply chains and opening new markets for Indian enterprises.
Modi’s message was ultimately aimed at converting BRICS’ growing economic scale into practical cooperation, arguing that the bloc’s future influence would depend not merely on its collective size but on its ability to generate opportunities for businesses, entrepreneurs and people. “Let us turn BRICS’ ambition into action and our collective strength into solutions for the world,” he said.
