Pitching India as a model of inclusive technological growth, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said technology, data, knowledge and innovation had emerged as the defining sources of power in the 21st century, asserting that their true value lay not in controlling people but in empowering millions through greater access to opportunities.Addressing the Bloomberg New Economy Forum here, Modi said India’s digital transformation since 2014 had made connectivity a tool of empowerment, enabling students in smaller towns to access digital learning, village shopkeepers to reach new customers and young people to pursue online courses.“Connectivity has not just connected people; it has connected them to opportunities,” he said, describing this as the essence of “Power to Empower”.Highlighting India’s democratic and pluralistic character, the Prime Minister said the country, with more than 100 languages, nearly 80,000 registered newspapers and publications, over 1,000 satellite television channels and more than 500 million users each on YouTube and Instagram, reflected the importance of diverse views and open debate.He said that before 2014, access to mobile phones and the internet was itself a source of power, determining people’s access to information, knowledge and opportunities. The government’s focus on making mobile data affordable had since helped expand digital access across the country.The Prime Minister said the central question in the emerging global order was not who held power, but how it was used. Technology, he emphasised, should create opportunities for millions rather than benefit a select few, with the emphasis shifting towards collaboration, enabling others and helping them succeed.Modi also urged international delegates to experience India’s digital payments ecosystem, citing how street vendors and large automobile showrooms could use the same digital infrastructure despite operating at vastly different scales.Describing this as an example of inclusive technology, he said India was sharing its digital capabilities with the Global South and partner countries to help them develop systems suited to their needs. He cited the open-source CoWIN platform, developed during the COVID-19 pandemic, as an example of how India’s technological capabilities could serve a wider global purpose.Emphasising the role of innovation in expanding economic opportunities, Modi said India’s startup ecosystem had grown from a few hundred startups before 2014 to more than 250,000 today. Nearly half of these startups, he said, originated in smaller cities and towns, while more than 45 per cent had at least one woman director or partner.The Prime Minister also highlighted India’s renewable energy expansion, saying the country’s installed renewable energy capacity had risen from around 75 gigawatts in 2014 to nearly 300 gigawatts. He cited the PM Surya Ghar scheme, which promotes rooftop solar power for households, and PM-KUSUM, which enables farmers to adopt solar energy, as initiatives that combine the clean energy transition with economic empowerment.Together, the two schemes have helped India achieve more than 30 gigawatts of solar capacity and are estimated to reduce carbon emissions by over 30 million tonnes annually, he said.Modi further pointed to the Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile (JAM) trinity and Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) system as examples of technology improving governance by transferring government assistance directly into beneficiaries’ bank accounts. The system, he said, had helped reduce corruption, improve convenience and establish a direct link between the government and citizens.Extending the argument to India’s global engagement, the Prime Minister said the country had chosen to use its vaccine manufacturing capabilities to benefit others during the COVID-19 pandemic, supplying vaccines to more than 100 countries instead of allowing access to remain confined to a few nations.Referring to the AI Impact Summit hosted by India a few months ago, Modi said the country’s approach to emerging technologies was guided by the same principle: ensuring that innovation creates wider opportunities and benefits humanity.