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Ahmedabad , Sept. 28

THE Gujarat Global Investors' Summit 2003 was a deliberate message to the rest of the world that formed a response to the sustained propaganda that one had witnessed over the past one-and-a-half years, said the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr L.K. Advani.

Inaugurating the business summit, Mr Advani said the smear campaign against Gujarat had damaged not only the State but also the overall image of the country in the international arena and requested the foreign investors and NRIs not to be misled by whatever they had been reading.

But the summit proved that Gujarat had shaken off the negative tag and has started benchmarking itself against developed countries, he said.

"Many have asked me whether secularism in India was under threat following what happened in Gujarat last year. And I have said that whatever happened was an aberration and both Gujarat and the country has moved ahead. Gujarat should not allow itself to be pulled down by deliberate attempts by vested interests to sully its image. With this business meet, one should expect Gujarat to reassert itself as a safe investment destination and one should visit institutions such as Amul to really appreciate what has been achieved in this State," Mr Advani said.

The Deputy Prime Minister said he had watched Gujarat over the past many decades convert calamities into opportunities. This was seen during the floods in Morbi, the plague in Surat and the earthquake in Kutch, he said.

At the same time, there was need for Gujarat to become more cosmopolitan in its outlook and get cities like Ahmedabad to be ranked alongside Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune in newly emerging sectors such as telecom, he said.

Mr Arun Shourie, Union Minister for Disinvestment, Communication and Information Technology, said the importance of Gujarat was evident from the fact that a prerequisite for India registering an 8 per cent economic growth was Gujarat posting a growth rate of 10.2 per cent during the Tenth Plan period. Therefore, the current fund allocation pattern of Finance Commission and Planning Commission worked as deterrents for States like Gujarat from moving ahead, he said.

Presiding over the function, the Gujarat Chief Minister, Mr Narendra Modi, said it was a conscious decision to make the business meet coincide with Navratri, the longest dance festival in the world, as it depicted the State at its vibrant best.

Mr Modi said Gujarat led the rest of the country in many sectors such as milk, salt, pharmaceuticals and now the State had claimed its rightful place as the `petro capital' of the country with a maze of gas pipelines and LNG terminals.

Mr Modi exhorted the NRIs to invest in rupees and reap the benefit in dollars from Gujarat.

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