‘Investor summits have been key to Gujarat’s growth’

The summit was first launched in 2003, and since then, on an average, 65 per cent of MoUs have resulted in actual projects. Even if one goes to buy a house, it takes several months to finalise the property; we are talking about massive projects here, which are currently at various stages of implementation. On average, a large project takes five years to reach the production stage.

One should study the Kutch region before and after the 2002 earthquake and you will see a marked improvement, which can be attributed to the MoUs signed at VGS.

Today, Gujarat is a hub for automobiles, pharma and chemicals, and in some places, industries are finding it difficult to get land to expand. Sanand, Vithalapur, Vapi, Dahej, Ankleshwar and Becharaji are all prime examples of such development. If you believe critics, how has all this happened over the past 10 years? It would be gullible to believe that if MoUs are signed today, production in units will start tomorrow.

On a scale of 100, there are a few States with 96, 97 or 98 per cent (Ease-of-Doing-Business score). We could be 96.5 per cent. When you have scored 96 per cent marks in the exam but are criticised for not scoring 98 per cent, it makes no sense.

Can you give figures on joblessness? God cannot help those believing Rahul Ghandhi’s statics on it. As per the Centre’s statistics, Gujarat has the lowest unemployment level. Figures are available for you to see. Around five lakh persons are registered as unemployed in Gujarat.

In Kerala, a comparatively smaller State, over 30 lakh are unemployed. In West Bengal, the figure is over 45 lakh.

Caste-based agitation is a conspiracy of the Congress, and Hardik Patel is its agent. Patel’s associate, Alpesh Thakor, fought on a Congress ticket; Jignesh Mewani, too, was supported by them, and all of them now stand exposed.

We had asked the Congress how it will give reservation to the Patidars. They have not been able to give any clarification so far. If the Patel community was angry with the BJP, how were we able to win maximum seats in Mahesana, a Patidar constituency? In Surat, another epicentre of the community, we won all the seats.

The BJP has averaged 112 seats, but the tally came down by 12 seats mainly as we lost in Saurashtra. There, the Congress promised farm loan waivers if voted to power. This hurt us somewhat, but we believe that loan waiver is not a solution. The conclusion that the Patidar community is angry with the BJP is wrong when the people’s mandate has been for the BJP.

We have a clear stand that the Constitution and various court judgments precisely say caste-based reservations cannot exceed 50 per cent in total.

But we will study the recent move by the Maharashtra government on Maratha reservation and try to follow it, if it fits the legal framework.

So far, Maharastra has not brought in an ordinance; it has only made an announcement based on a survey.

Don’t believe the CAG report on toilets; show me if people defecate in the open in Gujarat. When a train from Gujarat enters Mumbai in the morning, you can see people defecating on tracks.

Show me such a scene in Gujarat. Will have to study the context of the CAG report. Forget 30 per cent, it is impossible to say that even 3 per cent of houses in Gujarat do not have toilets.

We had expected 15,000 people to visit daily. Around Diwali, the turnout was 30,000.

Post-Diwali holidays, too, over 10,000 people have been visiting. Even after hiking the express ticket rates from ₹350 to ₹1,000, the crowd is only growing.

We have taken proactive steps. In Gujarat, there are 700 lions, and we are extremely concerned that 23 of them died.

We have managed to stall the virus by injecting each and every wild cat with anti-virus doses. Forest Department staff have been in the jungle for several weeks now doing the job.

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