Davos. India has, over the past decade, shed its image as an “emerging” economy and transformed itself into a “significant” global economic power underpinned by strong growth and extensive digital public infrastructure. Union Civil Aviation Minister K. Rammohan Naidu and Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghvi said this in a session held here.

In a session organized by CII and KPMG, Naidu said on Wednesday that India today stands at the confluence of trust, scale and innovation. India offers credibility through its stable democratic institutions, strength through its diversity and size, and relevance through providing cost-effective and value-added solutions.

Sanghvi emphasized that for decades India was seen as an emerging economy but today’s reality is different. He said, “India is no longer just an emerging nation but is playing a decisive role for global growth, for strong supply chains, for democratic stability and for the future of innovation, sustainability and inclusive growth. ”

Reiterating this sentiment, Naidu said, “India can no longer be defined only as an emerging economy. India is becoming essential to the global economic order.” Naidu said in a session organized on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) that India’s current growth is broad-based, digitally enabled, supported by strong infrastructure and inclusive.

“This is the real change that India has seen in the last decade,” he said. One of the most significant changes in India’s development model has been the creation of digital public infrastructure. “Platforms like digital identity, real-time payments and consent-based data sharing have provided a distinct advantage to the Indian economy.”

The Union Minister said that this reduced transaction costs, gave formal form to lakhs of entrepreneurs and enterprises, gave opportunity to startups to innovate without huge capital. He said, “That is why India has now become not just a consumer market but a digital global laboratory.”

Bill Thomas, global chairman and CEO of KPMG International, said India’s growth over the last few years reflects the tremendous momentum building around physical and digital infrastructure. He said that digital infrastructure has brought India into a better position every year. Yezdi Nagporewala, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), KPMG India, said that the Indian government is reshaping the opportunities. India’s biggest opportunities lie in domestic consumption and domestic capabilities.

“Everyone is starting almost from scratch when it comes to implementing AI models and embedding them into practice,” said Rohit Kapoor, Chairman and CEO of EXL. In such a situation, the talent present in India, instead of getting instructions on what to do, is taking up the challenge for the world on how to implement AI in the right way.

The CII-KPMG report ‘From Emerging to Pivotal: India in the New Geo-Economic Order’ was also released during the session. Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) stressed the social dimensions of public investment and the inclusive nature of India’s development process. He also highlighted the growth in manufacturing sector through technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI), labor reforms and simplification of Goods and Services Tax (GST).