Indian local products and their potential to reach overseas buyers featured in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s October 25, 2026, radio address, as he urged festive shoppers to support artisans and highlighted examples of agricultural exports and technology ventures.

Key Takeaways

  • Modi cited Bihar makhana exports to Greece and Karnataka arhar dal exports to the Maldives.
  • He said Khadi Gram Udyog sales exceeded ₹28 crore on Gandhi Jayanti, up ₹1.5 crore from the previous year.
  • The address also covered IIT Madras brain research and its support for deep-tech start-ups.

Indian local products and export examples

In the 139th episode of Mann Ki Baat, Modi asked listeners to prioritise goods made by local artisans ahead of Diwali and Chhath. He said the Vocal for Local movement was helping Indian products reach global markets.

As examples, he pointed to makhana from Purnia, Bihar, reaching Greece and arhar dal from Kalaburagi, Karnataka, being exported to the Maldives. The monthly broadcast marked 12 years of the programme.

Modi also said Khadi Gram Udyog products generated more than ₹28 crore in sales in a single day on Gandhi Jayanti in 2026, ₹1.5 crore above the previous year’s figure.

Brain research and start-up ventures

Modi discussed his October visit to Chennai, where he said he inaugurated the Sudha Gopalakrishnan Brain Centre at IIT Madras. The centre is producing high-resolution digital 3D images of human brains and aims to study 100 brains in detail using the Param Shakti supercomputer.

He said the resulting data would be made available as an open-source research resource. He also credited industry, government, IIT alumni and academics with supporting the centre.

The prime minister said he met start-ups working on gold-quality verification, faster recovery of money lost to bank fraud and AI-assisted cervical cancer screening. He also cited ventures supported by IIT Madras’s incubation ecosystem, including work on drone and electric-vehicle batteries and AI applications in defence.

Packaging and rural livelihoods

Modi highlighted Maharashtra’s Shabari Naturals initiative, through which tribal communities sell products including honey, mahua, chironji and bamboo items in packaging reflecting tribal art. He said the packaging had received Japan’s Good Design Award. He also cited a Karnataka start-up making packaging from bamboo and agricultural residue.

Among rural initiatives, he discussed Nav-Trinjan, a Kheti Virasat Mission project in Punjab’s Malwa region that promotes organic cotton cultivation and runs a weaving school. He also pointed to millet-based foods developed in Meghalaya’s Khanduli village and the resumption of millet cultivation in Nagaland’s Kezoma village in 2024.

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