New Delhi, September 2026: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday welcomed leaders of the BRICS business community, innovators and industry representatives to the BRICS Business Forum 2026, highlighting the grouping's growing economic strength and calling for greater cooperation in trade, investment, innovation and entrepreneurship.
Addressing the forum, Modi said BRICS is celebrating 20 years this year. When the grouping was established in 2006, it had only four countries. Today, including BRICS members and partner countries, the grouping has expanded into a family of 21 nations.
BRICS countries now represent around 50 per cent of the world's population, 40 per cent of global GDP and more than 25 per cent of global trade, he said. While global GDP has increased around two-and-a-half times over the past two decades, the combined GDP of BRICS countries has grown nearly four-and-a-half times, indicating that their economic strength has expanded at almost twice the global pace.
The Prime Minister said BRICS countries are also emerging as important centres of global innovation and solutions, with new possibilities taking shape from grassroots initiatives to frontier technologies. He described the forum being held in India as the largest BRICS Business Forum so far.
India's BRICS chairship theme is “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability.” Modi said India has made these principles the foundation of its economic and trade policies over the past 12 years.
On resilience, he said India has diversified and strengthened its supply chains across sectors ranging from energy to technology. This resilience, he added, has enabled India to provide growth and stability despite global uncertainties.
India is rapidly expanding its roads, railways, ports and airports while developing new capabilities in strategic sectors such as shipbuilding, semiconductors, quantum technology, critical minerals and biotechnology. These sectors, he said, are creating new opportunities for global businesses.
“Make in India, Innovate with India, and Scale for the World,” Modi said, outlining India's approach to global economic engagement.
Highlighting India's startup ecosystem, the Prime Minister said the country now has more than 200,000 startups and over 120 unicorns, making it an emerging hub for global solutions. He said the BRICS Bharat Innovates Expo would provide a glimpse of this innovation ecosystem.
Indian startups, he said, are using artificial intelligence to transform education and healthcare, developing green hydrogen and battery technologies, and breaking new ground in defence and space. India now wants to use BRICS platforms to take these innovations to global markets.
Modi also highlighted India's experience of achieving “Innovation at Population Scale.” He cited the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), which has accelerated financial inclusion and digital transactions at a massive scale. According to him, around 50 per cent of the world's real-time payments take place through technology based on this system.
He said India has created an open ecosystem for industry and startups to build new solutions on this digital infrastructure, adding that several countries are adopting India's digital public infrastructure experience.
At a time when trade barriers are increasing globally, Modi said India is focused on creating economic bridges. Since 2014, India has entered into free trade agreements with nearly 40 countries. Within BRICS, he said, India's approach is similarly aimed at reducing barriers and creating greater opportunities for businesses.
During its BRICS chairship, India has established new cooperation networks in areas including agriculture, healthcare, skills and smart grids. Initiatives such as the BRICS Incubator Network, BRICS MSME Portal and BRICS Startup Innovation Fund are intended to connect startups and small and medium enterprises with markets and finance.
Modi also stressed the importance of secure sea lanes, open supply routes and the safety of seafarers for the expansion of global trade. He reaffirmed India's strong support for freedom of navigation and seafarer safety.
Highlighting the role of women entrepreneurs, he said the BRICS Women's Business Alliance was an important part of the grouping's vision. Nearly 200 women business leaders participated in the alliance's meeting held in India.
As BRICS enters its third decade, Modi urged the BRICS Business Council to set measurable targets. He proposed preparing an annual report on the top 10 trade barriers among BRICS countries, supporting 100 BRICS startups every year to scale into other member markets, and developing 1,000 new business partnerships.
He called for annual reviews of progress on these three benchmarks and urged the business community to transform BRICS' ambition into action and its collective strength into global solutions.
“BRICS आगे बढ़े, और दुनिया को भी आगे बढ़ाए,” Modi said, calling for a BRICS that advances itself while contributing to global progress.
