‘From Fragile Five To Global Top 3 & A Nuclear Powerhouse’: Amitabh Kant Says India Rewriting Its Growth Story At Breakneck Speed

In a major policy shift, India is soon throwing open its nuclear energy sector to private players, ending decades of exclusive government control.

Speaking at the India Economic Summit 2025 on the theme “Atmanirbharata: The Antidote to Turmoil”, Amitabh Kant, former CEO of NITI Aayog and G20 Sherpa, described the move as the latest step in a sweeping liberalisation drive that is rewriting India’s growth story.

Kant told the gathering that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced on Thursday, after inaugurating Skyroot’s Infinity Campus in Hyderabad, through video conferencing from New Delhi, that "the nuclear sector, which has been a monopoly of the public sector, will be opened for the private sector,” he said, predicting a surge of innovation.

“Now you will see a large number of young companies in this area of nuclear growth… With the nuclear sector opening up, you will see the emergence of India as a champion of small modular reactors.”

He pointed out that the same formula has already delivered spectacular results in other strategic fields. “In the last 3-4 years, we have opened up the space sector, the geospatial sector, the drone sector for private participation. Those three sectors alone have given birth to over 3,500 new startups,” Kant said.

From Fragile Five to Top Four in One Decade

The former NITI Aayog chief placed the nuclear opening in the broader context of India’s dramatic turnaround. “In 2014, India was facing the twin balance-sheet problem, huge debts on corporate books and mounting NPAs in banks. We were labelled one of the Fragile Five. In just ten years, we have moved from the Fragile Five to Top Four economies. In one-and-a-half years, we will be among the world’s Top 3,” he declared.

Ease of Doing Business: The Biggest Leap Ever Recorded

Kant, who personally led the Ease of Doing Business campaign, revealed the sheer scale of deregulation that made this possible. “When we started, India ranked 144th in the World Bank rankings. The Prime Minister told me to scrap rules and procedures. In two years, we jumped 79 places; no country has ever moved that fast. We are the only nation that has scrapped close to 1,800 outdated laws and fully digitised its economy. And the work continues every single day,” he said.

Free Enterprise Becomes the New Mantra

For Kant, the biggest change has been the shift in mindset. “One of the greatest hallmarks of the last decade is that we have built the spirit of free enterprise. The government is no longer the driver; it is the catalyst and facilitator. The private sector and young startups are the real engines of growth,” he stressed.

The $30-Trillion Challenge

Looking ahead, Kant spelled out the magnitude of India’s ambition. “We have to take the economy from $4 trillion to over $30 trillion. That means GDP has to grow nine times, per-capita income eight times and manufacturing sixteen times.

Only three countries have ever achieved this kind of sustained leap: Japan after World War II, South Korea and recently China. One hundred and eight nations are still trapped in the middle-income trap,” he warned.

He concluded with conviction: “The Prime Minister’s vision of Viksit Bharat is audacious, but achievable, provided free enterprise is allowed to flourish. This is going to be India’s decade and India’s century.”

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The India Economic Summit 2025 is proudly presented by TVS Motor Company. This event is Co-Powered by Adani Group, and Nippon India Mutual Fund, whilst being held in association with Ravin Group, Bhutani Infra and ProstarM. The special partner for this summit is Engineers India Limited (EIL) and the state partner being the Haryana Government.