Washington DC [US], October 4 (ANI): Union Minister Piyush Goyal highlighted that it was a very difficult task to bring back the manufacturing in the country as the economic situation was very bad when PM Modi took charge in 2014.

The minister stated this during a press address on the sidelines of his 4-day US visit which concluded on Thursday.

He also added that India was in the fragile five economies when PM Modi took charge and there were also other problems like low growth in forex and high interest rates.

"The situation in which PM Modi took charge in 2014, we were a fragile five economy. The world had written us off. Inflation was high, interest rates were high. Foreign exchange reserves and growth were low. Investor sentiment was poor. The stock markets were down. We were considered amongst the weakest currencies and economies in the world. Despite those constraints, with corruption scandals coming out literally from the closet every week before 2014, it was a painstaking task to bring back manufacturing into the country," the Minister said.

Highlighting the journey of Indian economy from 2014, the minister added, "Look at where we have reached from 2014 to 2024. We have taken growth up to 8 percent from 4 percent. Our inflation is down from 9 percent to under four percent. Our average inflation for 10 years was lowest in India's history. Our foreign exchange reserves are now at nearly 700 billion dollars".

The minister also noted that the manufacturing sector of the country has also improved, he said "Manufacturing also kept pace and has almost doubled in the last ten years".

The 4-day US visit by minister Goyal concluded on Thursday where India and the US had also signed an MoU on critical minerals to keep supply chains open and foster collaboration between India's Ministry of Mines and the US government.

In a press address, Goyal highlighted that the MoU focuses on creating resilient semiconductor supply chains.

"This was our sixth commercial dialogue, building on last year's progress. The strategic discussions, including the critical minerals MoU, centred around resilient semiconductor supply chains. The talks also addressed sustainability and clean energy... There was significant discussion on exploring newer areas of cooperation, such as tourism," he said.

Goyal further noted that both nations are working to broaden their engagement beyond bilateral ties to include other parts of the world. (ANI)