GANDHINAGAR: There were no lofty investment promises but captains of the industry and a battery of foreign diplomats queued up to hail Gujarat's economic progress on Friday when the sixth edition of the two-day Vibrant Gujarat business summit started at Mahatma Mandir here on Friday.
Apart from tycoons, several foreign dignitaries, including Japanese ambassador to India Takashi Yagi, Canadian high commissioner Stuart Beck and UK high commissioner James Bevan were present. As were heads of US India Business Council, UK India Business Council and Japan External Trade Organisation.
While most industry captains praised Modi, the most lavish praise came from ADAG chairman Anil Ambani, who placed Modi on the same pedestal as Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel and Dhirubhai Ambani, as a visionary. He called Modi "king of kings"; at last year's Vibrant Gujarat, Anil Ambani had controversially said Modi should become a national leader.
Ratan Tata, the star attraction of the 2009 Vibrant Gujarat summit for bringing Nano factory to Gujarat from West Bengal, said Gujarat stands out, the credit for which goes to Narendra Modi. He has set "high standards" for investment, said Tata.
Adi Godrej, who came as Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) representative, spoke of Modi's "futuristic approach" in making Gujarat "one of the best investment destinations".
Shashi Ruia of Essar, whose company was forced to pay thousands of crores as sales tax dues to Gujarat government, also referred to "Modi's vision and unparalleled leadership" — which was in complete contrast to his reference to being treated as "ghar ki murgi" (taken for granted) at a previous summit.
Most tycoons confined their focus on what they called "the entrepreneurial spirit of Gujarat". In fact, speaking of the great strides made by Gujarat in the past, General Motors' Lowell C Paddock recalled how Halol, where the GM plant came up decades ago, was connected with a "high-speed highway" with Vadodara. "Earlier, it took four hours to reach Vadodara but after the highway it takes just half-an-hour," he said.
Modi, who concluded the inaugural ceremony, said this summit was about "finding solutions" to the impact of global slowdown. "Despite the slowdown, Gujarat did reasonably well," he claimed, adding, "We did well with 10% rate of growth in service, industry and agricultural sectors." Modi further claimed Gujarat accounts for 72% of nation's employment generation, and the growth rate of small and medium industries was 85% in a year.
UK treads cautiously
British high commissioner James Bevan, who met Narendra Modi in October after the British felt the need to "engage Modi", was cautious at the inaugural session of the Vibrant Gujarat meet. Bevan avoided any direct or indirect reference to Modi, even while speaking about "natural" and "traditional" partnership between Gujarat and Britain over several centuries. Recalling the huge Gujarati population at Leicester, he hoped for a "thriving and stronger relationship" with Gujarat.
Money flows
Mukesh Ambani of the Reliance Industries said his company will invest Rs 100,000 crore over the next five years and focus on expansion in Jamnagar, Hazira and Dahej, apart from setting up a higher education hub. Essar chairman Shashi Ruia said his company was proposing to invest Rs 14,000 crore — Rs 10,000 crore in ports sector at Hazira and Salaya, and Rs 4,000 crore in bulk water supply.
Modi for PM
Contrary to earlier summits when at least two leading industrialists said Modi was fit for prime minister's post, this time around only Gautam Adani wished that Modi, armed with his "able leadership", should go "up north". Interestingly, the only other person who expressed a similar wish was Konstantin Makarelov, vice-governor of the tiny Astrakhan province of the Russian Federation, saying — amidst a huge applause from Modi supporters — that he hoped Modi will win the "next general elections".
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India Inc calls Narendra Modi leader with vision
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India Inc calls Narendra Modi leader with vision
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India Inc calls Narendra Modi leader with vision
