Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered a historic 103-minute speech on Independence Day 2025, breaking his own record.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi made several major announcements during his Independence Day 2025 speech on Friday, August 15. Modi delivered a 103-minute Independence Day speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort, the longest by any prime minister in India’s history.
Modi broke his own 98-minute record from the 78th Independence Day last year. His longest Independence Day speech before 2024 was 96 minutes in 2016, while his shortest speech was in 2017 when he spoke for 56 minutes.
On India’s 79th Independence Day, Modi also broke Indira Gandhi’s record by delivering 12 consecutive speeches from Red Fort to stand next only to Jawaharlal Nehru who delivered 17 Independence Day addresses in a row.
Here are 5 major announcements by PM Modi:
- ‘Sudarshan Chakra’: Delivering his address to the nation on India’s 79th Independence Day, PM Narendra Modi announced that India will launch a mission named ‘Sudarshan Chakra’ to “expand, strengthen, and modernise” this national security shield. Emphasising self-reliance, Modi said by 2035, the nation seeks to expand, strengthen, and modernise its security framework, drawing inspiration from Lord Shri Krishna’s Sudarshan Chakra. “The entire modern system should be researched, developed, and manufactured in India, harnessing the talent of our youth. This powerful system will not only counter terrorist attacks but also strike back at the terrorists,” he said. “India aims to develop its own Iron Dome-like defence system, named Mission Sudarshan Chakra, designed to safeguard critical sites, including civilian areas,” he added.
- GST reforms – A Diwali gift: The prime minister also announced big-ticket Goods and Services Tax (GST) reforms and promised a Diwali bonanza for citizens. “Next-generation GST reforms will be unveiled on Diwali, reducing taxes on essential goods and providing relief to MSMEs, local vendors and consumers,” he said. Modi also announced the creation of a dedicated Reform Task Force to drive next-generation reforms to accelerate economic growth, cut red-tapism, modernise governance and prepare India for the demands of a USD 10 trillion economy by 2047.
- Employment scheme: Modi announced the launch of the PM Viksit Bharat Rozgar Yojana, which aims to create 3.5 crore jobs over the next two years. Under the ₹1 lakh crore scheme, newly employed youngsters will receive ₹15,000 per month as financial support. The initiative is expected to benefit around three crore young Indians, with the government projecting it as a key step in strengthening the bridge from Swatantra Bharat (Independent India) to Samriddha Bharat (Prosperous India). The Union Cabinet, chaired by Modi, had approved the scheme on July 1, 2025, as part of its push to incentivise job creation across the country.
- High-powered demography mission: Modi highlighted the dangers of demographic imbalance due to infiltration and illegal migration in border areas. He announced the launch of a high-powered demography mission to address this national security challenge, ensuring the unity, integrity, and rights of India’s citizens are safeguarded.
- Nuclear energy capacity to grow tenfold by 2047: Work is underway on 10 new nuclear reactors as part of India’s mission to increase nuclear power generation capacity by over ten times in the next two decades.
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