FDI to India increased 39 percent in 18 months: Modi

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the foreign direct investment (FDI) to India has increased by 39 percent in the last 18 months even while falling globally.

"The FDI to India increased by 39 percent in the last 18 months, when global FDI has fallen," Modi said in his address at The Economic Times Global Business Summit, noting that at present, the global economy is going through a period of uncertainty.

Stressing that reforms in a country should be linked to people's welfare, he said: "True reforms are those which results in transformation in the lives of citizens. My goal is reform to transform. Biggest beneficiary of any reform should be the poor."

Holding that creating new opportunities for citizens to progress is crucial for the growth of the nation, he said: "New opportunities are like oxygen to the aspirational citizens."

Modi said that reforms will be fruitful only if they succeed in impacting the lives of citizens for the better.

"We have to increase the quality of life of the common citizen and even more so, the quality of life of the poor. If a government is progressive, and runs an honest and efficient administration, the biggest beneficiaries are the poor. Poor governance hurts the poor more than it hurts others," he said.

"I believe in the politics of empowerment. I believe in empowering the people to improve their own lives. We need to value enterprise and hard work, not wealth. Creating opportunities for cities and towns to grow is very crucial. Urban areas are an engine of growth," he added.

Saying that "no country can be alone" in the globalised world today, he said India's economic efforts must have a positive global impact.

"India's policies must be such that they make a positive contribution to the rest of the world. For the last four quarters, India has been the fastest growing large economy in the world," he said.

Modi also noted that protecting the planet from climate change is "one of the most important tasks for this generation". "We are committed to reducing the emission intensity of our GDP by 33 percent by 2030 even while growing at a fast pace," he added.

Listing the government's achievements, he said: "India's highest ever urea fertiliser production was achieved in 2015. India's highest ever production of ethanol as blended fuel, benefiting sugar cane farmers, was in 2015. the highest number of new cooking gas connections to the rural poor was achieved in 2015.

"India's highest ever output of coal was achieved in 2015. Shipping Corporation of India which made a loss of Rs.275 crore in 2013-14 made a profit of Rs.201 crore in 2014-15."

The prime minister also cited the benefits of the Direct Benefit Transfer scheme of cash transfers in rationalisation of subsidies and weeding out illegal cooking gas connections.

"(I) was pleasantly surprised to see a noteworthy reduction in leakage, simply by eliminating those who were double counted and ineligible," he said.