Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today addressed the nation from the ramparts of Red Fort on the occasion of 80th Independence Day. He conveyed his heartfelt greetings, observing that every heartbeat and home across the country resonates with the spirit of the Tricolor and new resolutions while celebrating 150 years of Vande Mataram. "I respectfully bow to all freedom fighters and great revolutionaries who awakened the great tradition of sacrifice," remarked Shri Modi.

Expressing deep solidarity with citizens affected by recent severe floods and landslides, the Prime Minister assured them of the nation's unwavering support in these trying times. "I assure the affected families that we and the entire country stand firmly with them in their sorrow and pain," affirmed Shri Modi.

Emphasizing the foundational principles of national greatness, the Prime Minister asserted that true accomplishment is achieved only when a nation relies on its own aspirations and robust capabilities. "Any nation becomes great and achieves its goals when it moves forward on the pure strength of its dreams and resolutions," noted Shri Modi.

Urging the citizens to discard small ambitions in favor of expansive visions that broaden national horizons, the Prime Minister explained that firm resolve naturally generates the strength to navigate through crises. "When the resolution is firm, the capability to find ways through disasters emerges automatically," observed Shri Modi.

Elaborating on the direct correlation between ambition and actualized capability, the Prime Minister stressed that elevated dreams inherently boost the overall scale and absolute height of national efforts. "When dreams and resolutions are high, the absolute height of our capability also increases," noted Shri Modi.

Announcing a monumental national vision, the Prime Minister declared the firm resolution to transform the country into a fully developed nation by 2047, compelling the world to recognize India's immense courage and capability. "With the hard work of 140 crore countrymen, we will definitely make a Viksit Bharat by the 100th year of independence," asserted Shri Modi.

Acknowledging the collective dedication of all demographic segments, the Prime Minister presented a comprehensive report card on human empowerment and economic transformation over the last 12 years, highlighting that 25 crore citizens have defeated poverty and India has transitioned from the 'Fragile Five' into the fastest-growing major economy. "Every single citizen has made every possible effort with complete dedication to take the country to new heights," affirmed Shri Modi.

Reflecting on the missed opportunities of the past where a tragic lack of pace led to global stagnation, the Prime Minister celebrated the dramatic shift in momentum, emphasizing that the collective resolve of the people is now completely unstoppable. "India has picked up an incredible new pace, and it is now impossible to stop the capability of 140 crore countrymen," noted Shri Modi.

Presenting a detailed report card of India’s progress across manufacturing, digital growth, and citizen delivery over the past 12 years, the Prime Minister highlighted that defence production increased nearly 4 times, Khadi and Village Industries grew 5 times, electronics manufacturing expanded nearly 7 times, railway coach production surged 21 times, and mobile phone manufacturing increased 33 times. In digital innovation, internet consumers grew 4 times, patent grants increased 4 times, and digital transactions rose 100 times, while basic amenities accelerated through tap water connections delivering 15 times faster, LPG connections expanding 6 times faster, toilets constructed 4 times faster, pucca houses built 3 times faster, and hundreds of obsolete laws being abolished. "When so many massive accomplishments are before us, the resolution to become a Viksit Bharat can never remain unfulfilled," asserted Shri Modi.

Stressing the absolute necessity of robust self-reliance and national pride, the Prime Minister firmly rejected the notion of depending on cheap foreign imports, advocating instead for initiatives that actively build powerful domestic capabilities. "We must systematically increase our own capabilities and securely protect our own interests ourselves," affirmed Shri Modi.

Illustrating the country's rapid technological ascent and aggressive push for self-reliance, the Prime Minister highlighted the critical global importance of semiconductors and presented a major progress report, proudly announcing that three domestic plants are already operational and exporting chips to global markets, while making a key policy announcement that 7 to 8 new production facilities will operationalize within 1 to 2 years. "This self-reliant India gives us the absolute highway to move rapidly in the direction of a Viksit Bharat," asserted Shri Modi.

Underscoring the strategic necessity of resource security, the Prime Minister detailed the launch of the National Critical Minerals Mission and the Critical Minerals Corridor announced in the Budget, noting that extensive international agreements have established India as a globally trusted partner. “Many countries of the world have now firmly started trusting India in the strategic direction of these critical minerals,” noted Shri Modi..

Linking technological advancement to soaring energy demands, the Prime Minister highlighted landmark energy reforms under the SHANTI Act and made a major policy announcement setting a target of 100 GW nuclear capacity by 2047 with 5 new reactors operational within 6 to 7 years, backed by mastery in Fast Breeder Nuclear Technology. "We have successfully taken a very big step in the exact direction of becoming entirely self-reliant in crucial nuclear fuel," affirmed Shri Modi.

Criticizing past restrictive policies that severely hindered national resource exploration, the Prime Minister highlighted a bold paradigm shift in domestic oil and gas development, transitioning 99% of the coastline from a 'No-Go Area' to a 'Go Ahead Area' and launching expansive offshore operations backed by the Rs 85,000 crore Samudra Manthan initiative to unlock new energy reserves. "We have decisively opened up those areas and are now heavily inclined towards finding massive new reserves inside the sea," asserted Shri Modi.

Highlighting the rapid expansion of alternative energy infrastructure, the Prime Minister contrasted stagnation with massive 12-year milestones, noting that City Gas Distribution expanded from 70 to 700 cities, piped cooking gas reached 1.75 crore households, and solar capacity surged from 2 GW to 160 GW. "Expanding the piped gas network from 70 to 700 cities in twelve years is true speed and absolutely true expansion," observed Shri Modi.

Detailing the direct economic benefits delivered to the middle class through renewable energy, the Prime Minister celebrated the rapid success of the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana, highlighting that the free solar electricity scheme has crossed 50 lakh households by providing financial assistance of up to Rs 80,000 per family to effectively reduce power bills to zero and generate additional income through surplus power sales. "Thousands of houses are earning today by selling excess electricity, and we are rapidly fulfilling this massive task," noted Shri Modi.

Contrasting historical stagnation with modern efficiency in railway infrastructure, the Prime Minister noted that earlier policies yielded only 30 percent electrification across 90 years, whereas the current government achieved network-wide coverage in just one decade to deliver massive environmental benefits. “We completed 100 percent of the massive electrification work within this one decade, successfully saving imported diesel,” affirmed Shri Modi.

Announcing a major breakthrough in future fuels, the Prime Minister highlighted that India has started work on its first Made-in-India hydrogen train, being developed as the world's longest and most powerful hydrogen train. "In the field of hydrogen trains in the world, India has proudly and firmly planted its flag," asserted Shri Modi.

Reflecting on the turbulent journey toward the 2047 developmental goals and navigating severe global crises like the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical conflicts in Ukraine and West Asia, the Prime Minister commended India's tested resilience and sharply criticized fear-mongers who spread malicious rumors, proudly noting that proactive planning and robust preparations ensured complete domestic stability. "The country clearly saw that our well-thought-out plans brought results, and today we are standing completely strong on our own power," affirmed Shri Modi.

Highlighting the government's highly proactive role in shielding domestic farmers from severe global economic shocks, the Prime Minister underscored a steadfast commitment to agricultural welfare by noting that the Government has absorbed massive costs to provide internationally priced Rs 3,000 urea for less than Rs 300, and DAP costing over Rs 5,000 for just Rs 1,350. "Even today, we are not forcing the farmers of the country to bear that massive burden, the government is firmly carrying it," asserted Shri Modi.

Dismissing past critics of self-reliance, the Prime Minister observed a massive global paradigm shift where nations are increasingly weaponizing essential resources, proving the absolute necessity of building robust domestic resilience over the last decade. "If we had not firmly moved in the right direction taking the powerful mantra of self-reliance, how would we have strongly faced such massive challenges," remarked Shri Modi.

Attributing the nation's soaring international respect to a stable political mandate and vibrant democracy, the Prime Minister highlighted that this recognized domestic stability has successfully facilitated Free Trade Agreements with around 40 countries post-2014, opening massive export opportunities across agriculture, fisheries, textiles, and MSMEs.  "Today, India is rapidly becoming a highly accepted and deeply respected country for the entire world," observed Shri Modi.

Urging domestic industries to aggressively seize massive international trade opportunities, the Prime Minister set a bold mandate for Indian products, ranging from Ludhiana and Tirupur to coastal seafood hubs, to dominate global markets by strictly exceeding international parameters in quality and overall affordability. "We will have to categorically give better and cheaper products than what we currently get from the world," asserted Shri Modi.

Connecting these immediate economic strategies directly to the ultimate national vision, the Prime Minister explained that the aggressive push for global dominance forms the strong foundation upon which the grand developmental goals firmly rest. "The goal of a Viksit Bharat is deeply rooted in the incredible capability that our countrymen have proudly shown," noted Shri Modi.

Demanding a radical transformation in the national work culture, thinking, and execution speed, the Prime Minister set an aggressive target to accomplish within five to seven years what had severely stagnated over past decades, expressing immense trust in the nation's hardworking workforce. "I deeply trust the youth power, the mothers, the sisters, the farmers, and the laborers of my country that together we can definitely realize this grand dream," affirmed Shri Modi.

Reiterating the administration's relentless commitment to structural change, the Prime Minister clarified that sweeping governance and administrative overhauls are driven strictly by profound inner conviction rather than external compulsion, issuing a clarion call for cooperative federalism where the Centre, States, and society unite to drive the next level of reforms. "This reform of ours is an absolute conviction, and we are going to move aggressively towards the next-level reform in the coming days," asserted Shri Modi.

Invoking the ancient civilizational strength of the Sapt Sindhu, the Prime Minister announced a powerful new strategic framework and delivered a futuristic clarion call for Bharat's next leap by unveiling the transformative Saptdhara or Sapt Shakti. He emphasized that these seven dynamic streams of strength, fully utilizing the immense capability of the youth, will propel the nation forward to unprecedented heights. "With the tremendous capability and power of that seven-stream strategy, we will aggressively give the country a new height and a new speed," promised Shri Modi.

Identifying 'Manufacturing Power' as the crucial first stream, the Prime Minister issued a clarion call to aggressively expand the manufacturing sector by mastering both small components and massive final products across complete domestic value chains, demanding a strict focus on zero-defect precision, cost efficiency, and an uncompromising commitment to global scale and quality. "From design to complete manufacturing, India will absolutely have to become a highly reliable center of the global supply chain," asserted Shri Modi.

Designating 'Agriculture and Food Processing' as the critical second stream, the Prime Minister championed a nationwide transition to chemical-free farming and urged a massive push toward integrated farm-to-export supply chains, ensuring traditional Indian foods seamlessly transition into booming global markets. "Our agro-products must successfully meet every global parameter so we can easily reach and dominate that world," affirmed Shri Modi.

Highlighting 'Technology and Innovation' as the vital third stream, the Prime Minister stressed that India must transcend being merely a global market to become the ultimate hub of innovation across cutting-edge fields like AI, quantum computing, space, advanced robotics, Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), and Made-in-India 6G. "Our goal must firmly be that 'Made in India' 6G reaches every single corner, and we must aggressively speed this up," asserted Shri Modi.

Detailing 'Gati Shakti' as the essential fourth stream, the Prime Minister mandated an aggressive infrastructural overhaul to create seamless multimodal logistics, encompassing high-speed rail, modern highways, inland waterways, and the transformation of ports into highly dynamic centers of port-led development growth.  "We will absolutely have to move our ports in the strategic direction of massive port-led development growth," noted Shri Modi.

Categorizing 'Defence Shakti' as the crucial fifth stream, the Prime Minister declared absolute strategic self-reliance a non-negotiable national priority, emphasizing India's aim to become a leading global supplier by pioneering and exporting next-generation technologies, including drones, counter-drone systems, and hypersonics. "We have to aggressively move forward with the firm goal of becoming a massive global supplier of defense technology," asserted Shri Modi.

Framing cyber security as an integral part of national defense, the Prime Minister emphasized harnessing the immense digital capability of Indian youth to aggressively protect both the nation's digital borders and the global cyber landscape. "We can actively use the tremendous capability of our youth in cyber security for the absolute protection of the country and the world," observed Shri Modi.

Introducing the 'Green and Blue Economy' as the sustainable sixth stream, the Prime Minister positioned India as a proactive global problem-solver in climate change, emphasizing sustainable expansion through Green Hydrogen, renewables, energy storage, and the comprehensive development of ocean, marine potential, and coastal tourism to generate extensive green jobs. "When the world keeps discussing global warming, we keep aggressively finding ways and providing solid solutions," affirmed Shri Modi.

Identifying India's 'Soft Power' as the final seventh stream, the Prime Minister celebrated yoga as a unifying global energy and championed the globalization of India's heritage, Ayurveda, and tourism, while mandating aggressive leadership in the creative economy spanning VFX, animation, gaming, and the WAVES Summit. "India can actively show its incredible dominance inside the creative world, and we will absolutely have to develop it as a global capability," asserted Shri Modi.

Recognizing the massive untapped potential of India's wildlife and national parks, the Prime Minister urged an aggressive campaign to leverage this soft power by attracting global tourists and heavily mobilizing international sporting events alongside the highly lucrative, large-scale concert economy. "We have a massive opportunity through our soft power to aggressively attract the world's tourists, and we must boldly show our capability to the world," noted Shri Modi.

Summarizing the strategic intent of these seven powerful streams, the Prime Minister emphasized that achieving national ambitions and surpassing global benchmarks requires a highly synchronized, cross-sectoral approach rather than isolated sectoral progress. "With a holistic approach, we absolutely have to work in the aggressive direction of crossing the ambitious scale we have securely set for the nation," affirmed Shri Modi.

Delivering a powerful clarion call to challenge the nation's corporate ambitions, the Prime Minister aggressively pushed for Indian dominance on global rankings, urging governments to rapidly modernize their policies to achieve bold targets, including 50 Indian companies in the Fortune 500, a top-tier global bank, a pharma giant among the world's top five, and premier global leadership across law, rating, consulting, accounting, and technology firms. "On this very path, keeping absolutely no shortfall in our hard work, we will definitely cross the massive dream of a Viksit Bharat," asserted Shri Modi.

Positioning the youth at the absolute center of national transformation, the Prime Minister affirmed that young Indians are both the primary architects and the ultimate beneficiaries of this rapid progress, stressing that the entire journey toward a developed nation must be inextricably linked to their empowerment. "We absolutely have to take the goal of a Viksit Bharat forward by aggressively connecting it with the youth as our highest priority," affirmed Shri Modi.

Celebrating the explosive growth of the domestic startup ecosystem to 2.5 lakh registered entities over the last decade, the Prime Minister highlighted a sweeping era of youth empowerment driven by unmatched resources like the Rs 1 lakh crore Research and Innovation Fund, the revolutionary impact of affordable digital data, and proactive frameworks including Skill India, Khelo India, the National Drone Policy, private space participation, and the historic National Education Policy 2020 introduced after 35 years. "You bring your massive dreams, we have made a powerful system of financial support and will absolutely not let there be a shortage of resources," noted Shri Modi.

Detailing an aggressive expansion of robust educational infrastructure, the Prime Minister contrasted past sluggish growth with the rapid addition of institutions, highlighting a leap from fewer than 350 universities to nearly 1,000 and medical colleges from fewer than 400 to around 850, while praising an innovation ecosystem fueled by over 10,000 Atal Tinkering Labs and the incredible success of youth-led startups launching private satellites and rockets on their first attempts. "We are working aggressively in the direction that the young minds of our country get highly attracted to technology from childhood itself," observed Shri Modi.

Announcing a massive initiative to secure absolute global dominance in emerging technologies, the Prime Minister made a major announcement from the Red Fort to formally train one crore youth in Artificial Intelligence skills within the coming year. "We will aggressively work to train one crore youth for AI skills so our youth has the absolute capability to lead in the world of AI," asserted Shri Modi.

Showcasing the exponential success resulting directly from clear, visionary policies, the Prime Minister presented a report card on emerging sectors, celebrating the explosive growth of the bioeconomy from Rs 60,000 crore in 2014 to nearly Rs 20 lakh crore today, alongside a massive leap in electric vehicle sales from just 1.5 lakh annually to 25 lakh. "See, when policies are right and the goal is crystal clear, how incredibly well the youth of my country successfully deliver," affirmed Shri Modi.

Highlighting the rapid expansion of the aviation and aerospace sectors alongside rural governance, the Prime Minister noted massive employment generation through new aircraft maintenance hubs and the successful flight of the Made-in-India C-295 defence transport aircraft, while praising the incredible success of the drone-powered SVAMITVA  property mapping scheme for unlocking Rs 140 lakh crore in rural economic potential across 3.25 crore families. "The rural property scheme is becoming massively successful due to drones, heavily unlocking property value for essential loans and business," noted Shri Modi.

Announcing a massive new initiative to alleviate the severe financial and emotional burden of competitive exams on middle-class families, the Prime Minister launched Free Online Coaching, leveraging robust Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and top teachers to provide high-quality educational support through a nationwide competitive prep network. "By bringing those massive resources together, we are going to build an entire robust network to give absolutely free coaching to the youth," asserted Shri Modi.

Celebrating India's rising dominance in the global sporting arena through highly strategic grassroots initiatives like the TOPS scheme and Khelo India, the Prime Minister proudly noted the increasing presence of the Tricolor on international podiums, affirming the nation's bold bid to host the 2030 Commonwealth Games and its strong candidacy for the 2036 Olympics. "India's performance in the world of sports has been getting continuously better, and we are proudly moving forward as strong contenders to host the Olympics," affirmed Shri Modi.

Launching the Nationwide Sports Talent Hunt targeting children aged 5 to 15 years, the Prime Minister announced an aggressive grassroots strategy across every village and school to actively identify, train, and build a formidable cadre of future Olympic champions for global competitions. "Children's talent will be aggressively seen, and by giving them special training, they will be made incredible players who proudly play for the country," noted Shri Modi.

Addressing the severe national crisis of substance abuse, the Prime Minister declared a drug-free India as a massive collective responsibility vital for firmly securing the strength of the future generation, giving a clarion call for every family, NGO, and spiritual organization to unite under the Nasha Mukt Yuva Abhiyan for a comprehensive 100-week nationwide anti-drug campaign. "I want to tell every family to become an active part of this campaign and come aggressively forward to fulfill the dream of a drug-free India," asserted Shri Modi.

Reflecting on the devastating, four-decade-long reign of violent extremism that completely ruined millions of futures, the Prime Minister honored the sacrifice of over 3,500 security personnel and proudly declared that Naxalism has been decisively dismantled, with such insurgencies now replaced entirely by a massive surge of regional development and trust flourishing in liberated areas. "Today in those very regions, due to being completely free from extremism, the Tricolor of massive development, trust, and effort is proudly fluttering," affirmed Shri Modi.

Issuing a stark warning regarding sensitive internal security, the Prime Minister urged the nation to remain highly vigilant against ideological subversion and subversive elements that had historically infiltrated the corridors of power to maliciously influence national policies. "We must not underestimate this challenge, we urgently need to be even more careful regarding this," asserted Shri Modi.

Highlighting the emerging, insidious threat posed by ideological extremists who persistently continue to seek opportunities for violence and anarchy, the Prime Minister called for a massive, highly coordinated effort to identify and properly isolate these disruptive elements. "We will absolutely have to identify these ideological extremists, isolate them, and actively connect the young generation towards the mainstream," affirmed Shri Modi.

Shifting focus to national defense in a rapidly changing global landscape where modern warfare heavily targets critical domestic infrastructure, the Prime Minister officially announced the creation of a massive, modern, voluntary Civil Defense network, while simultaneously highlighting that defence exports have surged more than 50 times to around 100 countries.. "I am proudly announcing from the Red Fort today that we will build a highly vibrant and modern network of Civil Defense in the coming days," declared Shri Modi.

Celebrating the incredible contributions of women to modern nation-building across aviation, STEM, and the armed forces via the NDA, the Prime Minister highlighted the massive economic empowerment of resilient rural women, expressing immense pride in confident tribal daughters manufacturing advanced microchips in Sanand after technical overseas training. Noting that the ambitious target for financially empowered rural women has been completely surpassed with the achievement of 3 crore Lakhpati Didis, he set a bold new target of 6 crore to drive unprecedented regional transformation. “The incredible confidence I saw in those daughters who are today doing the complex work of chip manufacturing truly impressed me,” remarked Shri Modi.

Commending the highly capable leadership provided by dynamic women serving as public representatives, the Prime Minister delivered a clarion call for Nari Shakti, issuing a powerful appeal to all political parties to end decades of delay and swiftly implement the one-third legislative reservation for women in Parliament and state assemblies. “Come forward in the honor of those women, take the credit, but absolutely give my mothers and sisters their rightful due,” asserted Shri Modi.

Sharply contrasting the minimal social security coverage of the past with the massive expansion achieved over the last transformative decade, the Prime Minister highlighted that inclusive welfare now protects around 100 crore citizens, up from just 25 crore pre-2014. “The resolution of a Viksit Bharat will only be truly fulfilled when massive development successfully reaches the very last person,” emphasized Shri Modi.

Detailing the life-changing impact of powerful welfare initiatives, the Prime Minister highlighted the Ayushman Bharat Yojana, which has extended free medical coverage of up to Rs 5 lakh to senior citizens above 70 years and officially saved poor and middle-class families an estimated Rs 2 lakh crore in crushing medical bills. “Because of this health card, massive funds meant for medicines and operations have been completely saved for my poor and middle-class families,” observed Shri Modi.

Noting that India's first Digital Census is currently underway, the Prime Minister urged families and the youth to leverage digital self-registration via mobile phones, explaining that flawless demographic data secured through active citizen participation forms the foundational bedrock for crafting precise developmental blueprints and effective national policies. "The more perfectly accurate information you provide digitally, the more massive the help will be for the country to rapidly move forward," asserted Shri Modi.

Urging young citizens to actively spearhead this digital census drive, the Prime Minister firmly advised them to sit with their families, meticulously fill out forms to eliminate manual errors, and seamlessly upload the flawless data online. "I strongly urge the youth of my country to actively and heavily join in this incredibly important work of the digital census," affirmed Shri Modi.

Concluding his Independence Day address by reiterating the Panch Pran, the Prime Minister issued a triumphant call for every citizen to permanently elevate national interest above self-interest, eradicate a colonial mindset, and work collectively to rapidly transform grand dreams into the undeniable success of a developed nation. "Let us forcefully make every step a step of development, match step with step, and together aggressively make a Viksit Bharat," affirmed Shri Modi.

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MJPS/SS/PRK