Narendra Modi will stand up in front of a packed house at New Delhi’s imposing Vigyan Bhavan conference hall tomorrow, and declare India on the cusp of a digital revolution. The prime minister will be watched by a host of global internet bigwigs — including Uber founder Travis Kalanick and Japanese telecoms tycoon Masayoshi Son of SoftBank — alongside almost all of India’s most prominent technology entrepreneurs.
The “Start Up India” gathering marks the latest in a series of events designed to highlight both Mr Modi’s pulling power and tech-savvy reputation. But it also embodies his belief that the elixir of technology can help India overcome many of its most pressing economic and development challenges.
“It [the internet] is an enterprise for India’s transformation on a scale that is, perhaps, unmatched in human history,” he told an audience in Silicon Valley in September.