India’s £972bn infrastructure plan to boost economy and tackle climate change
India is set to spend 100trn rupees (£972bn) on a national infrastructure plan to boost economic growth and help the country meet its climate goals.
Speaking as part of Independence Day celebrations in Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the programme will “create job opportunities for hundreds of thousands of young people”.
“It will help local manufacturers turn globally competitive and also develop possibilities of new future economic zones in the country,” he said.
Mr Modi was seen inspecting a joint military guard of honour during Independence Day celebrations
While he did not go into great detail, he said the scheme, called “Gati Shakti”, will expand the use of cleaner fuels.
“India is moving fast towards achieving its climate goals,” he said.
Mr Modi pledged to invest more in electric mobility, solar energy and “green hydrogen” – which does not emit carbon dioxide – in order for the country to become energy independent by 2047.
“Before the 100th anniversary of independence, we will make India energy independent,” he said.
He aims to wind down energy imports, which costs the country more than 12trn rupees (£117bn) each year.
India imports about 85% of its oil needs.
The prime minister pledged to make India energy independent by 2047
The country’s economy – the third-largest in Asia – has been battered by the coronavirus pandemic, having contracted 7.3% in the financial year that ended in March.
A second wave of COVID-19 has posed problems for its economic recovery, with experts fearing that the country will not rebound as quickly as the US and other nations.
The announcement follows similar plans in the US, where President Joe Biden’s $1trn (£721bn) infrastructure bill was passed last week.
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April: COVID in India: ‘Mass vaccination can help us’
In a 90-minute address from the historic Red Fort, Mr Modi outlined his government’s achievements to mark the 74th anniversary of India’s independence from British rule, hailing the country’s coronavirus vaccination efforts.
“We are proud that we didn’t have to depend on any other country for COVID-19 vaccines,” he said.
“Imagine what would have happened if India didn’t have its own vaccine.”
More than 500 million doses of the vaccines have been administered in India and about 11% of eligible adults have been fully vaccinated so far.
A US vaccine firm has opened the first mRNA manufacturing plant in the UK, against a backdrop of increasing anti-jab rhetoric back home.
The new facility outside Oxford is part of a £1bn investment in the UK by Moderna, which specialises in mRNA.
The novel vaccine technology delivered some of the most effective and fastest-to-develop jabs during the COVID pandemic.
Several pharma companies, including Germany’s leading mRNA pioneer BioNTech, are now racing to develop new therapies.
Moderna says the plant will produce up to 100 million doses of its existing vaccine products each year. It has also been designed to scale-up production to 250 million doses a year in the event of a new disease outbreak.
“God-forbid, if there is another pandemic, we can switch the facility any day,” said Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel.
The UK investment deal was agreed by the previous government, but the plant’s opening is welcome relief for the current one.
In recent weeks, four major pharmaceutical companies have halted planned investments in the UK following disputes over drug pricing and profitability in the UK.
‘A great statement’
It also promises to restore domestic vaccine manufacturing capability in the UK, the lack of which was exposed when dangerous supply interruptions threatened the early COVID response.
“It’s a really fast way of getting new vaccines discovered,” said Lord Patrick Vallance, former chief scientist and now science minister.
“It’s also a great statement of confidence in the UK that [Moderna has] chosen to base themselves here.”
Health Secretary Wes Streeting attended the opening
Moderna: UK ‘still believes’ in vaccines
The mRNA molecule is the same used by our cells to order the production of new proteins, and allows vaccines to be produced using just the genetic code of a virus or other biological target.
Moderna’s investment decision pre-dated Donald Trump’s return to the White House, but the Moderna CEO said its operation in the UK – a country that “still believes in vaccination” – may pay dividends if anti-vaccine rhetoric translates into a lack of demand for its products in the US.
“If there is less appetite by governments around the world, including in the US, to use vaccines, we might invest less in vaccines,” said Mr Bancel.
“We have to invest where there’s a demand for our products.”
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The UK presents other attractions for the company which has suffered substantial losses as demand for its COVID vaccine has fallen.
It’s betting that leading UK universities and a large patient population will make for successful clinical trials.
The company has ongoing NHS trials of new jabs against seasonal flu, a combination COVID and flu vaccine, cancer vaccines and mRNA therapies for two inherited childhood diseases.
Moderna says it is now the largest private commercial sponsor of clinical trials in the UK.
A shoplifter has been jailed and banned from every Boots store after stealing £107,000 worth of goods from the high street chain.
Liam Hutchinson, 32, of no fixed address, was sentenced to a year in prison at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.
He was also issued with a criminal behaviour order, banning him from every Boots store in the UK for 10 years – and the London borough of Kensington and Chelsea for five years.
Metropolitan Police detectives trawled through hours of CCTV footage to find that Hutchinson had committed 99 shoplifting offences at Boots stores in the borough between May and August 2025.
Hutchinson stealing from shelves in Boots on CCTV. Pic: Met Police
Often stealing large quantities of razors and electrical items, his crimes cost the retailer £107,000 in revenue, Sergeant Jack Vine, of the Met’s volume crime team said.
“We recognised the impact Hutchinson’s actions were having on the retailer, and through working with staff, we built a strong case of evidence against him, which has been reflected in his sentencing,” he added.
“This result should act as a warning that this type of behaviour will not be tolerated, and that we will come down hard on those who show a complete disregard for the law, terrorise retail workers and cost businesses thousands of pounds.”
Liam Hutchinson being caught by officers in bodycam footage. Pic: Met Police
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Nicky Harrop, head of security, fraud, and contract management at Boots, said the company have been investing “significantly” in anti-theft measures to make sure stores “remain a safe and respectful environment” for customers and staff.
The Met says it is prioritising shoplifting, having solved 163% more cases in London compared to the same time last year.
It is also dedicating up to 80 additional officers across London’s West End, with 90 more in high-risk theft areas.
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