'When India grows 7.8%, world sees fresh hope': PM Modi's big message amid global uncertainty

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the April-June quarter was the "most challenging" amid global conflicts, uncertainty, trade tensions, and pressure on energy and commodity supply chains, but India's 7.8% growth had given the world "a fresh hope".

Speaking at the Global Fintech Fest 2026 in Maharashtra, PM Modi said the global situation had remained uncertain for months and that the April-June quarter had been particularly challenging. Against that backdrop, he said, India's growth was significant not just for the domestic economy but also for global confidence.

"All of you are well aware of the current global situation. The world is passing through a phase of conflicts and uncertainty. There is pressure on energy and commodity supply chains. There is tension regarding trade. This situation has persisted for months now. The April-June quarter has been the most challenging," Modi said. "Even then, when India grows by 7.8%, the world sees a fresh hope."

Despite oil shocks due to war in West Asia, India's economy grew 7.8 per cent in the first quarter of FY2026-27 (April-June 2026).

#WATCH | Mumbai, Maharashtra | At Global Fintech Fest 2026, PM Narendra Modi says, "All of you are well aware of the current global situation. The world is passing through a phase of conflicts and uncertainty. There is pressure on energy and commodity supply chains. There is… pic.twitter.com/fEDHWjMTRQ

The Prime Minister linked that confidence to India's recent sovereign rating upgrade by a Japanese credit rating agency. He said the upgrade to the A category was particularly significant because it came after three decades. "Very few people know that this has come after 3 decades, after 30 years," he added.

Modi said the rating action showed that global confidence in India was being driven by its growth momentum, macroeconomic stability, and structural reforms undertaken in recent years.

"This shows that the world is so assured of India's growth momentum, our macroeconomic stability, and structural reforms in the past few years," he said.

The Prime Minister added that the government's reform agenda would continue at a faster pace. "India's reform express will go ahead even faster."

Modi's Fintech Push

Prime Minister Modi also used the fintech gathering to highlight the opportunities emerging from newer technologies, including agentic AI, tokenisation, and quantum technologies.

He said the challenge was to turn those possibilities into practical applications in finance and called on fintech companies to focus on four areas: stronger cybersecurity, ethical data protection standards, a stronger fintech regulator-industry innovation ecosystem, and a fintech consumer protection index.

The proposed index, Modi said, could provide a transparent rating of fintech companies.