From being a “dark spot” on the world map 10 years ago, India has become a “vibrant spot”, said Amit Shah, Union Minister for Home and Cooperation, during the closing ceremony of the 10th edition of the Vibrant Gujarat summit on Friday where ₹26.33-lakh crore worth of MoUs were inked for 41,299 projects over a period of three days.

As curtains fell on the ceremony, Shah said, “Ten years ago, we were considered as part of the fragile five economies of the world. Today, we are among the top five economies. From being considered a dark spot on the global map, today we are a vibrant spot. Similarly, we have completed a 10-year long journey from a silent Prime Minister (hinting at former PM Manmohan Singh), to a visionary and vibrant Prime Minister (indicating Prime Minister Narendra Modi),”

Viksit Bharat

Pointing out how Vibrant Gujarat summit has become a pathway for a “Viksit Bharat”, Shah said, “GIFT City, which was conceptualised in 2007, has become a reality today. Similarly, Dholera Special Investment Region (SIR) has also become a reality. A big automobile hub has formed in Mandal-Becharaji, while Dahej has become a large investment zone for chemicals and petrochemical entities,” he added.

Meanwhile, speaking at the summit, Manoj Sinha, Lieutenant Governor of Jammu & Kashmir said: t“We offer the best incentives (to industries), cheap electricity and we stand below Gujarat and other States if the number of crimes is looked at as per the records of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).”

Sudhir Mehta Chairman Torrent Group said the group has signed MoUs over ₹4,8000 crore for different projects in Gujarat that includes ₹7,200 crore for a green hydrogen project. Similarly, BK Goenka, Chairman of Welspun Group, talked about his group signing ₹40,000 crore of MoUs in green energy, textiles and plastics.

Pankaj Patel, Chairman of Zydus Group, said his companies have signed MoUs worth ₹5,000 crore in the healthcare sector, while Prasad Panicker, Director (Refinery) at Nayara Energy, said about 80 per cent of the company’s future investments will be in Gujarat.

Despite all the investment proposals that poured into the summit, the talk of Elon Musk and Tesla’s first EV unit coming to Gujarat remained a hype. When asked about the status of the Tesla project, Gujarat government officials continued to toe the old line. “Gujarat continues to remain hopeful. With the existing EV infrastructure, we are among the best suited regions for the project,” said Rahul Gupta, MD of Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC).

The summit also saw warring nations Ukraine and Russia pitch for investments for their respective nations. Both the countries were among the 35 partner countries for the event. The diplomatic stand-off with Canada saw the North American country stay out of the event as a partner country for the first time since 2011. The usual high-level delegation from Canada was missing at the summit. The country’s presence was marked by Canada’s Ambassador to India, Cameron Mackay who said that despite the tensions between the two countries, the long-term strategic interests of both India and Canada are aligned.

This edition of Vibrant Gujarat saw heads of four countries UAE, Mozambique, Czech Republic and Timor Leste share the inaugural stage with PM Modi. As in previous editions, global business leaders continued to hail Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his leadership. On the opening day of the summit, Chairman of Reliance Industries, Mukesh Ambani hailed PM Modi as the most successful Prime Minister in India’s history.

The summit saw the participation of 61,000 delegates, including 3,600 foreign delegates from 140-odd countries.

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