With over a dozen nations willing to become 'partner countries', and a horde of global corporate countries confirming their presence, the Gujarat state government has tagged a target of signing at least 25,000 memorandums of understanding worth a whopping Rs 30 Lakh Crore in the upcoming Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2017.
Scheduled to take place next month, the Chief Minister's Office has directed industries and mines department to manage the signing of the MoUs with an investment commitment of Rs 30 Lakh Crore in the event. The target was set despite key officials advising the governkent against it. The then Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi had decided in 2013 to not reveal the "magical figure" of MoUs, however, former CM Anandiben announced a tentative figure of Rs 25 Lakh in 2015. A key official in the industries and mines department said, "This time also many officials advised the government to focus only on number of MoUs rather than their value. Despite the fact, the department has been given a target of Rs 30 Lakh Crore for the next summit."
State Government data shows cumulative investment of Rs 84.55 lakh crore by way of 51,738 MoUs was committed over the past seven editions (from 2003 to 2015), of which a total number of 29,885 (57.76 per cent) MoUsprojects have been commissioned while 4,189 (8.10 per cent) are under implementation.
Actual realisation of these MoUs have always remained debatable as the government only provides details of the number of projects commissioned or under implementation, and refrains from giving the figures in value terms. A senior government official said, "Most of the MoUs commissioned or under implementation are from micro, small, and medium enterprise sector, where the investment in value terms remains low. Very few large, mega or ultra-mega projects have been commissioned over the last decade."
