Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has invited companies and individuals to invest in a big way in the state and contribute to its development. As a precursor to the mega event “Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2019”, Rupani addressed industrialists and prospective investors at a road show organised in the national capital this week.
Rupani laid out the theme and focus for the 9th edition of the biennial summit, which is “Shaping a New India”. The summit will be held from 18-20 January next year. The state government has already held 24 road shows around the world in the run-up to the biannual event. It will also organise road shows in other cities, including Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Kolkata.
Speaking at the occasion, he said: “Our vision is to develop and build a ‘New India’ by 2022 and achieve the target set forth for us by our Prime Minster Narendra Modi for the 75th anniversary of India’s Independence.” The goal is to establish India’s infrastructure at par with the best in the world, with futuristic smart cities and a high-quality of life for its people. “New and upcoming developments such as the Ahmedabad Metro Rail, commercial development on Sabarmati Riverfront, Surat Dream City, and up-gradation of bus terminals, are designed to support the next phase of urban development in Gujarat,” the Chief Minister added.
Raman Ramachandran, Chairman and MD of BASF India, and Haijun Wang of Chromei Steels spoke about their company’s experience of investing heavily in Gujarat at the curtain-raiser function. They said that Gujarat’s policy-driven approach provides a level-playing field and the system-based governance, acting in a time-bound manner, builds a level of trust that makes companies want to keep coming back to the state.
Ramesh Abhishek, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), spoke of how Gujarat’s naturally business-friendly population coupled with able support from the government is something that all states across the country should emulate. He also credited Gujarat for showing the way in increasing the ease of doing business, which when applied at the Central government level has powered India’s rise up the global ease of doing business rankings over the last four years.
Earlier in the day, Rupani also held special one-on-one meetings with CEOs and MDs of key industries and apprised them about investor-friendly policies of the state government and invited them to participate in the upcoming Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit. Rupani also launched the Vibrant Gujarat mobile app which will have all the event related details.