‘No longer small dreams’: Modi’s message to India on Independence Day (VIDEO)

The prime minister has pointed to manufacturing, chips, nuclear power, and digital growth as pillars of a developed India Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday outlined the country’s achievements and priorities for future growth as the world’s largest democracy marked its 80th Independence Day.

Addressing the nation after hoisting the Indian national flag at Delhi’s iconic Red Fort, Modi cited India’s rapid economic growth from being one of the ‘Fragile Five’ economies in 2013 to a $4.15 trillion, fast-growing major economy, and said the country is emerging in the eyes of the world as a widely accepted and respected nation.

The ‘Fragile Five’, was a term for Türkiye, Brazil, India, South Africa, and Indonesia, which were overly dependent on unpredictable foreign investments and large current account deficits to fuel their economic growth.

“Our country is not going to move forward with small dreams,” Modi said, noting the country rises through the “strength of its dreams, its resolutions, and its capabilities.” 📹🇮🇳 ‘We Can No Longer Move Forward With Small Dreams’: Modi’s Big Message From Red Fort The prime minister urged Indians to “dream big,” saying a nation rises through the strength of its dreams, resolve and capabilities. https://t.co/F71jMC9sPT pic.twitter.com/GgzxMjxJmL — RT_India (@RT_India_news) August 15, 2026 Fuel for growth Listing India’s achievements in the last 12 years since his Bharatiya Janata Party came to power, Modi said the country’s defense production has increased fourfold, electronic manufacturing has increased sevenfold, and digital transactions have increased 100 times.

Read more India showing active interest in Arctic route – Putin Modi pointed to the success of his Make-in-India initiative, and cited the three chip plants that the country has built, with plans to add eight more.

“Chips are indispensable; without them, the world would come to a standstill,” he said, as Indian positions itself to benefit from the global demand for chips driven by the boom in artificial intelligence and data centers.

This, however, raises the demands for energy security, Modi acknowledged, stating that the South Asian nation will need electricity “on a very large scale.” The Indian leader reiterated the country’s target of achieving a capacity of 100 GW of nuclear power by 2047 and highlighted the need for accelerating offshore exploration to find oil and gas that could replace imported energy that makes the national economy vulnerable to external shocks. ⚛️ AI Needs Power, PM Modi Wants Nuclear To Bring It Pointing to GPUs, AI and data centres, Modi said, “Energy security is the need of our times,” adding that India will need electricity “on a very large scale” and is targeting 100 GW of nuclear power by 2047.