"Gujarat, the land of Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, also represents the business spirit of India," said Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the inaugural function of the Vibrant Gujarat Summit 2017. The eighth edition of the four-day biennial event, being held at the Mahatma Mandir convention hall in Gandhinagar, was kickstarted with several world business leaders and Nobel prize winners in attendance.
Delivering a 30-minute speech at the end of a three and a half hour long inaugural session, Modi broke his recent streak of making any fresh announcements. He said his government is "strongly committed" to continue the pace of economic reforms and would take a number of measures in this regard. "We are setting our economy right." He read out statistics, already announced projects, and Indian and global rating reports, stating that India has received foreign direct investment worth USD 130 billion during the NDA Government since May 2014- 60 per cent higher than the two preceding years.
Pitching the work done by his government since it took over in May 2014, Modi said he proved even a democracy could deliver good results. "We are at the threshold of creating the world's most digitised economy." He said the country offers a vast market as well as demographic advantage to companies of all shapes and sizes. "India's strength lies in three Ds: Demography, Democracy, and Demand. Our biggest strength is the depth of democracy. Some say that democracy cannot deliver effective and fast-track governance. We have seen in the last 2.5 years, it is possible to deliver quick results in democracy as well."
He said, "We have placed great emphasis on the ease of doing business. The outcome of our efforts are visible in India’s global ranking. We have moved up 16 places on the Global Innovation Index. Total FDI inflows in the last two years have touched $130 billion. The total FDI inflows received during the last years were the highest ever. India is now the leading recipient of capital investment in Asia-Pacific. India has become the sixth largest manufacturing country in the world."
"We're bringing a paradigm shift in India's polity and economy: from relation based governance to system based governance; from favouritism to level playing field; from informal to formal economy," PM Modi said. Earlier during the day, the Prime Minister held bilateral talks with several heads of state and ministers who have converged for the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit.
Speaking before the PM, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said the state enjoys a special place in the Indian economy. He informed attendees that over 100 countries are participating in the Summit. He also lauded the Centre's demonetisation effort. "In two months, 1.25 million bank accounts have been opened and 7.5 million RuPay debit cards have been issued. Within one month, 450 villages have been enabled for digital payments. It's become a mass movement in Gujarat. We hope that this vision of the PM will make Gujarat and India more vibrant."
Also addressing the crowd, businessman Mukesh Ambani, India's richest person, said his company Reliance Industries will complete investment of £12.5 billion in refinery and petrochemical expansion projects in Gujarat by March. During his speech, he called the PM as a "great transformative leader" who first transformed Gujarat, and is now transforming the country with a series of historic and visionary initiatives. "No leader in the world has changed the mindset and behaviour of so many people in such a short period," he said. Citing examples, he named Modi's Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Digital India, Make in India, Skill India, and Start Up India initiatives. These initiatives, Ambani said, have won the respect of the world and "no wonder this has resulted in India receiving its highest foreign direct investment in recent times."
Speaking of the commitment made by his Reliance in the previous edition of the Vibrant Summit, he said Reliance exceeded the commitment it made in investing in projects in the state by £1 billion. "Our global scale of investment is an expression of our commitment and faith in the Gujarat story. Our cumulative investment in the state of Gujarat is over £24 billion, that is over USD 45 billion. It is the biggest investment made by Indian corporate in a singe state," Ambani said. Of this, Reliance has invested more than £1.25 billion in Gujarat in the past four years. "I am happy to report that we have invested £1 billion more than what we had committed. All these investments will be completed by March 2017. These investments provide sustained employment, both direct and indirect, to over 200,000 people and contribute to Gujarat's export competitiveness."
