From startup funding to AI for farmers: 10 key takeaways from PM Modi’s BRICS speech

From startup funding to AI for farmers: 10 key takeaways from PM Modi’s BRICS speech

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday laid out a wider people-focused agenda for BRICS, arguing that cooperation among member countries should move beyond governments and directly involve businesses, startups, farmers, workers, researchers, women and young people.

Addressing the second day of the BRICS Summit 2026 in New Delhi, Modi outlined a series of portals, networks and cooperation mechanisms spanning MSMEs, startups, agriculture, skills, social security, urban mobility and clean energy.

“We want our entrepreneurs, farmers, researchers, women, youth and ordinary citizens to become active participants as well,” Modi said.

The expanded BRICS grouping accounts for 49.5 percent of the global population and 40 percent of global GDP, according to India.

Here are the key takeaways from Modi’s speech:

1. BRICS cooperation should go beyond governments

The central message of Modi’s address was that BRICS should no longer remain primarily an intergovernmental forum.

He called for greater participation by entrepreneurs, farmers, researchers, women, young people and ordinary citizens, with cooperation built around institutions and networks that can operate across member countries.

2. A common BRICS portal for MSMEs

Modi highlighted the BRICS MSME Cooperation Portal, designed to connect small businesses across member countries with finance, knowledge and new markets.

According to an official PIB backgrounder, the platform will link MSMEs with technology centres, financial institutions, trade associations, training organisations and policymakers.

BRICS has also institutionalised dialogue on MSME financing and prepared a work plan aimed at helping smaller enterprises expand internationally.

3. Startups could get a cross-border incubation network

BRICS has established an Incubator Network connecting national nodal agencies, selected incubators and startups across member economies.

The mechanism is intended to allow eligible startups to access incubators and expertise outside their home countries.

India has separately proposed a BRICS Startup Innovation Fund for early-stage and growth-stage companies developing scalable solutions.

The New Delhi Declaration has welcomed further consideration of the proposal, though details such as the fund size, financing structure and launch timeline have not yet been announced.

4. AI and digital infrastructure to reach farmers

Modi also pitched greater use of technology in agriculture through the BRICS Network on Digital Agriculture.

The initiative seeks to bring artificial intelligence, geospatial technology and digital public infrastructure into agriculture, agroforestry, fisheries and aquaculture.

IIT Delhi is coordinating the initial phase of the network, according to the government.

5. BRICS to combine traditional farming knowledge with modern science

The grouping has also established a network of centres of excellence focused on agroecology and regenerative agriculture.

Modi said the centres would seek to combine traditional agricultural knowledge with modern scientific practices to improve climate resilience and agricultural productivity.

6. New BRICS platform for jobs, skills and social security

Another initiative highlighted by Modi was BRICS CONNECT, or the BRICS Cooperation Network for Capacity Building, Employability, and New Skills and Technologies.

The voluntary platform covers skills and employability, social-security systems, women's participation in the workforce and digital public infrastructure.

BRICS members have also agreed to cooperate on forecasting future demand for skills in digital, green, care and other emerging sectors.

7. Cities get an Urban Mobility Hub

Modi also pointed to the BRICS Urban Mobility Hub as a platform for countries to exchange ideas and practices on affordable, inclusive and sustainable transport.

The initiative takes BRICS cooperation into urban policy, an area of growing importance as member countries deal with expanding cities and rising infrastructure requirements.

8. Smart grids and energy storage enter the BRICS agenda

A Digital Centre of Excellence for Smart Grids and Energy Storage has also been launched as a voluntary cooperation platform.

It will allow member countries to share technical knowledge, regulatory practices and possible pilot-project experience around electricity grids and energy storage.

Modi said the initiative could help make clean-energy systems more efficient, reliable and accessible.

9. Not every initiative is at the same stage

Several of the mechanisms outlined by Modi are already established as networks or platforms, while others remain proposals.

The BRICS Startup Innovation Fund, for instance, is still under consideration, while some of the cooperation frameworks are voluntary and non-binding.

That distinction will determine how quickly the announcements translate into projects or financing on the ground.

10. Modi wants BRICS solutions opened to the Global South

Modi said the initiatives developed within BRICS should eventually extend beyond the grouping itself.

He called for solutions created by member countries to be adaptable and accessible to other developing economies across the Global South.

“The strength of BRICS lies in our diversity and cooperation,” Modi said.

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