Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) accounded for the major chunk of investment intentions pledged during the two days of the 7th biennial Vibrant Gujarat summit which will give a boost to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's “Make in India” call.
Of the 21,304 MoUs inked at this edition of the summit, MSMEs accounted for 17,081, which also signals a boost to manufacturing in Gujarat which has been hit by a weak export market. At VG 2013, the MSME sector had pledged 12,886 MoUs.
The number of investment intentions filed by MSMEs was almost the same as the MoUs in all sectors (17,719) signed during the 2013 summit. The summit saw yet another surge of investment commitments with a plethora of companies promising to pump Rs 25,000 billion into the state. In return, they were assured that doing business here would be much easier, clearances easier to come and their issues would be ironed out.
Over 21,000 memoranda of under standing (MoUs) expressing an intent to invest in the state were signed beside 1,225 strategic partnerships between the state government and the several national and international agencies.
Addressing the valedictory function at Mahatma Mandir on Monday, Gujarat chief minister Anandiben Patel announced the number of investment commitments and the setting up of district-wise special cells to facilitate industries in getting faster clearances for land, environment and other requirements.
Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's promise to make India the “easiest” destination for doing business, Patel also promised to set up two high-level committees, one that she would chair and another headed by the chief secretary, to iron out problems faced by industries in execution of projects.
The chief minister also assured the business community of addressing policy issues they face by quarterly monitoring of each MoU signed. “Earlier, businesses were finding it difficult to get clearances from the Central government. Since Narendra Modi is sitting there, this will not be the case anymore,” she said.
