Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) [India], February 24 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that three sectors - textiles, tourism and technology- are 'crucial' for India's development.

Addressing the Madhya Pradesh Global Investor Summit in Bhopal, the Prime Minister said these sectors will create 'crores' of new jobs.

'Three sectors will play a crucial role in India's development--textiles, tourism, and technology. These sectors will create crores of new jobs. If we look at textiles, India is the second-largest producer of cotton. India has a whole tradition related to textile, it has skill as well as entrepreneurship,' PM Modi said.

Terming the state as the 'cotton capital' of India, the Prime Minister stated that about '25 per cent of India's organic cotton supply comes from Madhya Pradesh.'

India is the sixth largest textile and apparel exporter in the world.

Notably, the Central government aims to target the export of USD 10 billion worth of technical textiles under its National Technical Textiles Mission. To position India as a global leader in technical textiles, the Mission was launched in 2020-21 and has been extended till 2025-26, with a financial outlay of Rs 1,480 crore.

Technical textiles are defined as textile materials and products used primarily for their technical performance in various high-end industries. At present, India's technical textile exports are reportedly between USD 2 billion to USD 3 billion.

In his inaugural address at the Global Investor Summit, PM Modi also emphasised on the need to ensure water security for industrial development. He said that the government is constantly pushing for water conservation and promoting river interlinking mission.

'For industrial development, water security is important. To achieve this, on one side, we are pushing water conservation, and on the other, we are promoting the river interlinking mission. Agriculture is one of the biggest beneficiaries in this process,' PM Modi said.

'Recently, the Rs 45,000 crore Ken-Betwa River Linking Project has been started. This will increase the productivity of 10 lakh hectares of agricultural land,' he added.

PM also highlighted Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman decision in the Union Budget to make income up to Rs 12 lakh tax-free in order to boost consumption in the country.

'Our budget has come this month. In this budget, we have energized the growth of India. Our middle class is also the biggest test pay. It also creates demand for service and manufacturing. In this budget, many steps have been taken to empower the middle class. We have made income up to Rs 12 lakh tax-free and have restructured the tax slab. In the budget, emphasis has been laid on building local supply chain so that we can become completely self-dependent in manufacturing,' PM Modi said. (ANI)