Microsoft founder Bill Gates has come out in support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to demonetise Rs 500 , Rs 1000 notes and replace them with new notes with high security features.
Gates said that as a result of government’s ‘demonetisation’ move, digital transactions would rise dramatically, and, in the next several years, India would become one of the most digitised economies not just by size, but percentage as well.
Bill Gates urged the Modi government to take steps to ease the expansion of its vast internal market by investing in infrastructure, building efficient markets, addressing land and labour issues, and streamlining tariffs and taxes.
"It is fantastic that you took steps to change the GST, but that is just the beginning," Gates said while delivering a speech for the 'NITI-Lectures series: Transforming India' in the presence of PM Narendra Modi and his Cabinet colleagues on Wednesday in New Delhi.
Gates lauded the Modi government for taking initiatives like Aadhaar, Startup India, Swachh Bharat and said that India was trying to do what had never been done before.
The Microsoft founder praised the Modi government by pointing out that it was committed to solve India’s big problems.
Referring to Modi government’s Digital India and MyGov initiatives, he said that much more could be done to streamline the delivery of public services by investing in the digital infrastructure that enables better planning, performance monitoring, and grievance redressal.
Interestingly, Bill Gates ended his speech by saying, "Ye hai mere mann ki baat."
