India Highlights Economic Reforms, Digital Transformation and Expanding Algeria Partnership
Ambassador Dr. Swati Vijay Kulkarni outlines India’s economic transformation, digital innovation, public health progress and expanding opportunities for strategic cooperation with Algeria.
BY Dr. Hana Saada
ALGIERS, July 8 — India showcased its economic transformation, digital governance initiatives and expanding cooperation with Algeria during a press briefing hosted by the Embassy of India in Algiers, presenting the country as one of the world’s fastest-growing major economies while outlining opportunities for deeper bilateral engagement across trade, investment, technology and culture.
Addressing journalists under the theme “Rise of Resurgent India,” Ambassador of India to Algeria Dr. Swati Vijay Kulkarni said India’s economic expansion is being underpinned by political stability, structural reforms, technological innovation and a large skilled workforce, while emphasizing New Delhi’s ambition to strengthen partnerships across the Global South.
The presentation also highlighted recent public health indicators, infrastructure development, manufacturing growth and digital public services, alongside plans to expand India-Algeria cooperation through new transport links, business partnerships and cultural exchanges.
Economic momentum
Ambassador Dr. Swati Vijay Kulkarni said India continues to register one of the highest growth rates among major economies, with nominal gross domestic product estimated at approximately $4.15 trillion and annual growth exceeding 7.5%.
She cited relatively low inflation and banking interest rates, foreign exchange reserves of around $670 billion, and India’s contribution of roughly 18% of global economic growth as indicators of macroeconomic resilience.
The ambassador attributed the country’s performance to political and economic stability, market-oriented policies, an independent judiciary, a vibrant media environment, and a policy framework centred on the government’s “Reform, Perform and Transform” agenda.
She also pointed to India’s demographic profile, describing the country as home to 1.4 billion people, with a young population and an expanding middle class supporting long-term domestic demand.
Structural reforms
Ambassador Kulkarni outlined a series of reforms introduced in recent years that she said have modernized India’s economy and improved the business environment.
Among the measures highlighted were the nationwide rollout of the Aadhaar biometric identity system, the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) to create a unified national market, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, simplified tax and labour regulations, foreign direct investment liberalization and corporate reforms.
She also highlighted the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) programme, which she said has boosted manufacturing across sectors including electronics, pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, textiles, auto components and renewable energy equipment.
Other initiatives included Digital India, Make in India and Startup India, alongside expanded private-sector participation in defence and space industries and efforts to streamline business approvals through digital platforms.
Digital transformation
Ambassador Kulkarni devoted significant attention to India’s expanding digital public infrastructure.
She said the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) now accounts for roughly half of global real-time digital payment transactions. In May 2026, she said, the platform processed more than 23 billion transactions valued at nearly $313 billion.
India also received more than $135 billion in remittances during 2025, she said, describing it as the highest annual inflow globally.
Other digital governance initiatives she presented included DigiLocker, which she said serves approximately 700 million users, enabling secure digital access to official documents; PM Gati Shakti, an integrated GIS-based infrastructure planning platform combining more than 1,600 geographic data layers to accelerate project approvals; and the Swamitva programme, under which drone mapping has generated around 31 million rural property cards across roughly 200,000 villages, allowing households to use land assets more effectively for financing.
The ambassador also highlighted artificial intelligence applications supporting agriculture and dairy farming, including AI-powered advisory services for women farmers and expanded use of drones for fertilizer spraying and crop monitoring.
Manufacturing, infrastructure and innovation
Ambassador Kulkarni described manufacturing and technology as key drivers of India’s recent economic expansion.
She said India now hosts more than 200,000 startups, including 126 unicorn companies, with six new unicorns emerging during 2025.
Infrastructure development was another major focus of her presentation.
The ambassador said India has more than 160 airports, a railway network exceeding 137,000 kilometres, over 25,500 trains, and approximately 1.25 million railway employees, making it among the world’s largest rail systems.
She added that India’s road network extends approximately 6.37 million kilometres, while ongoing investments have expanded port capacity, metro rail systems and high-speed rail services, including Vande Bharat, Namo Bharat and Amrit Bharat trains.
The presentation also highlighted India’s space achievements, noting that it became the first country to successfully land a spacecraft near the Moon’s south pole.
In clean energy, Ambassador Kulkarni reaffirmed India’s target of installing 500 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity and producing 5 million tonnes of green hydrogen annually by 2030, alongside a long-term objective of reaching 100 GW of nuclear power capacity by 2047.
Public health indicators
The ambassador also presented findings from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-6), conducted during 2023-24 and released in May 2026, describing the results as evidence of improvements in healthcare access and living standards.
According to the survey, which covered approximately 679,000 households across 715 districts, access to electricity reached 98.3%, while 96.5% of households now have access to improved drinking water.
Ambassador Kulkarni said health insurance coverage has increased to 60.2% of the population, attributing much of the expansion to the Ayushman Bharat–PM-JAY programme and state-level insurance schemes.
The survey also found that India’s total fertility rate has stabilized at 2.0 births per woman, institutional deliveries have reached 90.6%, and full childhood immunization coverage stands at 87.1%.
Additional indicators cited included increased female participation in household decision-making, broader financial inclusion, expanding internet access among women, higher vaccination coverage against rotavirus, and improvements in child nutrition reflected in reductions in stunting and severe wasting.
India-Algeria cooperation
Turning to bilateral relations, Ambassador Kulkarni said India and Algeria continue to share a long-standing partnership rooted in support for South-South cooperation and development among emerging economies.
She said both countries possess complementary strengths, including youthful populations, entrepreneurial potential and expanding industrial capabilities.
The ambassador said the planned launch of a direct Air Algérie service between Algiers and New Delhi, expected by the end of October 2026, is anticipated to strengthen trade, investment and people-to-people exchanges.
She also identified opportunities for greater cooperation in automotive components, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, agro-industry, film production and joint industrial ventures, saying such partnerships could support Algeria’s ambition to become a manufacturing and commercial hub serving African markets.
Cultural diplomacy
Ambassador Kulkarni said yoga and Hindi language education remain central components of India’s cultural outreach in Algeria.
She noted that India’s Ministry of AYUSH recently established a Guinness World Record after attracting more than 435,000 concurrent viewers to a live online yoga session in June, while India also topped the medal table at the inaugural Yogasana Championship held in Ahmedabad.
In Algeria, the embassy has organized yoga events in several cities, including activities at Hamma Garden in Algiers and outreach programmes in Laghouat and Tizi Ouzou.
The ambassador said the embassy has also begun offering free yoga classes three times a week and plans to resume complimentary Hindi language courses for Algerian students.
Spotlight on Rajasthan
The briefing concluded with a presentation promoting the western Indian state of Rajasthan as a tourism and investment destination.
Ambassador Kulkarni described Rajasthan as India’s largest state, combining desert landscapes, historic cities and a diversified economy with an estimated gross state domestic product of around $200 billion in fiscal year 2025-26.
The presentation highlighted major destinations including Jaipur, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Ajmer, Pushkar and Mount Abu, together with the state’s cultural traditions, handicrafts, festivals and cuisine.
The ambassador also pointed to Rajasthan’s leading role in mineral production, agriculture, handicrafts and heritage tourism, including the luxury Palace on Wheels rail service linking New Delhi with several of the state’s historic cities.
Ambassador Kulkarni encouraged Algerian visitors to consider Rajasthan as a gateway to India’s cultural heritage, noting that improved air connectivity through regional transit hubs—and the planned direct Algiers–New Delhi service—is expected to make travel between the two countries more accessible in the coming years.
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