- Tuesday, April 16, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
THE focus areas of the biennial Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit (VGGS) will be sustainable infrastructure, renewable energy and national hydrogen mission, Pankaj Kumar, the chief secretary of the western Indian state of Gujarat has said, adding that the event has seen the state government signing memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with 20 companies worth Rs 25,000 crore, Press Trust of India reported.
He also said that around 70 per cent of the MoUs signed with companies at the summit get fructified over a period of time, pointing it out as a good success rate.
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Indian prime minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the three-day summit in 2022 in Gandhinagar, the capital of Gujarat, on January 10. The event, which was first held in 2003 when Modi was the chief minister of the state, will seek investment in the state across sectors.
“The focus areas of VGGS 2022 would be key national initiatives and topics of global relevance that includes sustainable infrastructure and manufacturing, national hydrogen mission, renewable energy, electric mobility and futuristic technologies,” Kumar told PTI in an interview in New Delhi.
He said the state government has already started signing MoUs with companies.
“Just in the last week itself, we have signed MoUs with 20 companies worth around Rs 25,000 crore (£2.4 billion). This is the first set of MoUs that we have signed. And on every Monday, till VGGS 2022 on January 10, we will have MoUs signed,” he said.
The prominent sectors from where companies would be participating in the 2022 summit would be renewable energy, chemicals, food processing and financial services, he said.
“I can tell you around 70 per cent of the MoUs that are signed during VGGS get fructified. And that is a good success rate,” he said.
“It (fructification) depends on the type of project. Some projects have very long gestation period. It may take many years. One has to see over a period of time. So this 70 per cent is generally the realisation that we achieve,” he said.
This — 70 per cent realisation — has been the experience when the MoUs of the last few VGGS were analysed, Kumar added.
A total of 28,360 MoUs were signed during the last VGGS summit in 2019 while 25,578 MoUs were signed during VGGS 2017.
The 10th edition of the VGGS, which has been delayed by a year due to Covid-19 pandemic, would have the theme of ‘Atmanirbhar Gujarat to Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant Gujarat to self-reliant India)’, he said.
“There will be a lot of companies from countries such as the USA, the UK, France, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Italy, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar which will be participating in VGGS 2022,” the official said.
When asked how much employment has been generated by the VGGS, he said: “As per the survey report of NSO, we have the lowest unemployment rate in India currently of 3.4 per cent. These are the latest figures. Vibrant Gujarat has been the most influencing factor in job creation.”
Due to this pace and type of industrialisation, both direct and indirect unemployment is generated, he added.
“Last financial year 2020-21 was the year of the pandemic. In spite of that, 37 per cent of the total FDI (foreign direct investment) across states in India came to Gujarat. In absolute numbers, it was USD 21.9 billion (£16.4 billion),” he said, adding, “The whole world is recovering from the pandemic. So, there should be an increase in FDI inflow in this financial year.”
