The Hindu Business Line : Vibrant Gujarat markets State’s investment potential

One of the defining features of the Gujarat Government since 2003 has been its efforts to boost investments through the “Vibrant Gujarat” series of programmes, clubbed together with cultural extravaganzas such as the Navratri and kite flying festivals that attract a large number of domestic and international tourists to the State.

Realising that the investment climate is directly related to the availability of better infrastructure in an area aspiring for rapid economic growth, the State Government had organised an exclusive “Vibrant Gujarat Urban Summit” in February 2007. The two-day event, aimed at attracting investments in urban development sector, saw a total of 312 MoUs signed for investments to the tune of Rs 2.05 lakh crore.

These included 106 MoUs in township development (for Rs 80,995 crore), 143 in infrastructure development (Rs 1,14,481 crore) and 63 in commercial centres development (Rs 9,684 crore).A few months later, the State Government also announced its planned urban development policy to boost this process.

Investors’ summit

A month before this Summit, altogether 349 MoUs were signed for investments to the tune of Rs 4.60 lakh crore at the “Vibrant Gujarat: Global Investors’ Summit 2007.” Among the major investors were the ILFS and DLF groups (Rs 50,000 crore and Rs 30,000 crore, respectively), the Subhash projects (Rs 5,000 crore) and Reliance Retail (Rs 900 crore).

The Centre would be spending $12 billion in the next five years under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNURM) for up-gradation of amenities in urban areas of the country.

The private sector is also likely invest in this sector to compensate for the projected deficit of $16 to 17 billion envisaged under this head, officials say. On an average, nearly half of these MoUs are at various stages of implementation.

Apart from urban development, Gujarat has also attracted investments in other sectors as well, as given in the following table on the investments promised during the “Vibrant Gujarat.: Global Investors’ Summit, 2007”: The biennial event of Vibrant Gujarat has emerged as a mega event in the State as it is attended by who’s who of Indian business, industry and trade, besides foreign investors.

The first such event, organised in 2003, had seen 76 MoUs signed between the Gujarat Government and potential investors in various projects. The 2005 event was marked by the signing of 226 MoUs worth Rs 1.06 lakh crore.

The 2007 edition saw a total of 363 MoUs signed for investments to the tune of Rs 4.61 lakh crore ($102 billion), with a potential to generate more than 13.26 lakh job opportunities. As a prequel to it, a special “Vibrant Gujarat IT Summit” was held in December 2006 in which 21 leading IT and ITeS companies, including Satyam Computers and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), signed MoUs worth Rs.11,067 crore. TCS is also setting up a major SEZ in IT in Gujarat.

Marketing Gujarat Abroad

As part of the preparation for its mega event “Vibrant Gujarat: Global Investors’ Summit from January 12 to13, 2007, the State Government decided to sell Gujarat abroad as an investment destination. For this purpose, the RIL Chairman, Mr Mukesh Ambani, visited the US to make presentations to top executives of companies engaged in petroleum sector.

The other corporate teams, which visited the different countries, included a pharmaceutical delegation led by the Zydus Cadila Chairman, Mr Pankaj Patel, a team on port and SEZ developers led by Mr Gautam Adani, and a delegation to promote food processing industries, led by Mr Piruz Khambatta, Rasna’s Managing Director.

These visits were followed up subsequently by business delegations led by the Chief Minister, Mr Narendra Modi, to China, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland and other places. Mr Modi also led a 21-member corporate delegation to the World Economic Forum (WEF) meet at Dalian in China in September 2007 to showcase Gujarat.

Mr Yao Wen Lin, Board Chairman of the East China Architectural Design and Research Institute (ECADI), which is planning and designing GIFT said its standard would be far superior to the one in Shanghai, China

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