Gujarat Summit sets the stage for Rs 26.33-lakh crore economic boost

Union Minister for Home and Cooperation Amit Shah, hailed India's remarkable transformation from a "dark spot" on the world map a decade ago to a "vibrant spot" ,during the closing ceremony of the 10th edition of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2024 on Friday where Rs 26.33-lakh crore worth of MoUs were inked for 41,299 projects over a period of three days.Pointing out how Vibrant Gujarat summit has become a pathway for a “Viksit Bharat”, Shah said, “GIFT City, which was conceptualised in 2007, has become a reality today. Similarly, Dholera Special Investment Region (SIR) has also become a reality. A big automobile hub has formed in Mandal- Becharaji, while Dahej has become a large investment zone for chemicals and petrochemical entities,” he added.

Bharat is today performing and also transforming itself due to the reforms undertaken by the @narendramodi Ji's govt. pic.twitter.com/kC2wuEzF2m

— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) January 12, 2024

Despite all the investment proposals that poured into the summit, the talk of Elon Musk and Tesla’s first EV unit coming to Gujarat remained a hype. When asked about the status of the Tesla project, Gujarat government officials continued to toe the old line. “Gujarat continues to remain hopeful. With the existing EV infrastructure, we are among the best suited regions for the project,” said Rahul Gupta, MD of Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC).
The summit also saw warring nations Ukraine and Russia pitch for investments for their respective nations. Both the countries were among the 35 partner countries for the event. The diplomatic stand-off with Canada saw the North American country stay out of the event as a partner country for the first time since 2011. The usual high-level delegation from Canada was missing at the summit. The country’s presence was marked by Canada’s Ambassador to India, Cameron Mackay who said that despite the tensions between the two countries, the long-term strategic interests of both India and Canada are aligned.
This edition of Vibrant Gujarat saw heads of four countries UAE, Mozambique, Czech Republic and Timor Leste share the inaugural stage with PM Modi. As in previous editions, global business leaders continued to hail Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his leadership. On the opening day of the summit, Chairman of Reliance Industries, Mukesh Ambani hailed PM Modi as the most successful Prime Minister in India’s history.
Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and Union Minister Parshottam Rupala attended the concluding session along with a participation of  large number of business representatives, 61,000 delegates, including 3,600 foreign delegates from 140-odd countries.The Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit which was postponed in 2022 had witnessed MoUs worth over 18 lakh crore rupees, therefore the total MoUs signed after the 9th edition are worth over 45 lakh crore rupees.

(Ira Singh , Asstt Editor, Gandhinagar)