Focus on skill, scale and speed to compete with China: Modi

He said 'the input of intellectual think tanks' should be substantially enhanced for better policy frameworks.

The Prime Minister released the book, "Getting India Back on track – an action agenda for reform", in a function at 7, Race Course Road in New Delhi on Sunday.

The book is edited by Bibek Debroy, Ashley Tellis and Reece Trevor, and published by Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

He said if India has to compete with China, the focus should be on skill, scale and speed. 

"Universities should be actively involved in research and analysis of the developmental process, to contribute in the best possible way for policy-related decisions," Modi said.

He said, in infrastructure, the focus needs to shift from highways to 'i-ways', and optical fibre networks.

He said cities in the past were built on river-banks.

He said the cities are now built along highways but in future they will be built on the basis of the availability of optical-fibre networks and next-generation infrastructure.

The Prime Minister said urbanization should not be treated as a problem but as an opportunity.

"If we have to generate employment and change for the better, we plan to build 100 smart cities," Modi said.

Modi stressed on the need for water conservation, and emphasized the importance of micro-irrigation, which would lead to "per drop, more crop."

He said that micro-irrigation had been successful in improving productivity and quality in crops like sugarcane in Gujarat.

He said, "We need to exploit the demographic dividend, as 65 percent of our population was below 35 years of age. For this skill development needs to be a priority area."

Referring to skills such as teaching, nursing and paramedics, he said good teachers were one of the biggest needs of society, but there are very few good teachers available.

Talking about the need to combat the challenge of global warming and climate change, the Prime Minister said that a civilization that treated rivers as mothers, did not need to learn about environment protection from a western mindset.

Speaking on the occasion, Minister for Finance, Corporate Affairs and Defence, Arun Jaitley said there could not have been a more appropriate time for release of the book.

He said the governments should not only have the will to rule, but also the credibility to rule.

He said the international community was once again looking at India and it is an opportunity that we cannot afford to miss.