Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday slammed those who criticised India's potential to become a 5-trillion dollar economy and called them "professional pessimists". In his first visit to Varanasi, his Lok Sabha constituency, after becoming PM for the second time, Modi explained the meaning and importance of India becoming a $5-trillion economy.
"There are certain people who are saying why the government has set such a target (5 trillion dollar economy), what is the need, why all of this is being done. These people can be called professional pessimists," said PM Modi said.
"Professional pessimists are very different from common people. If you go to a common man with a problem, he will help you find a solution. But if you go to them for a solution, they will turn it into a threat," he added. PM Modi aims at making India a $5 trillion economy by 2024-25.
Modi said his government’s Budget for 2019-20 lays down a roadmap for nearly doubling the size of the Indian economy to USD 5 trillion in five years by raising per capita income, boosting consumption and increasing productivity.