The Vibrant Gujarat Summit 2015 — a brainchild of then Chief Minister Narendra Modi in 2003– the biennial event has been steadily rising in stature with every edition. The seventh edition of the three-day Summit started yesterday where number of participants and the guests were involved. Eight countries are participating in the event and they are Canada, Japan, China, Australia, the Netherlands, Singapore, South Africa and the US. With aggressive campaigning, the government expects participation from over 2,000 companies, two million-plus visitors and over 2,500 international delegates. In the last six Vibrant Gujarat Summits, the States signed MoUs worth Rs. 48 lakh crore. However, the investment generated has been way below the intention expressed in these summits. As per the figures collated by the Opposition Congress, a total of 17,719 MoUs were signed in the last six Summits from 2003 to 2013. The total worth of these MoUs was Rs. 39.6 lakh crore. However, only 9.14 per cent have been materialised into actual investment.
Vibrant Gujarat Summit in Gandhinagar was addressed and torched by Modi, in the presence of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and US Secretary of State John Kerry among dignitaries like Jim Yong Kim, Andrew Robb and Chris Alexander. PM Modi is focusing too much on Vibrant Gujarat. This is because he has done lots of work for ‘Gujarat Model’. However, he is now prime minister of this nation, he has to look everywhere constantly. His election promises were good governance and development but statements given by BJP leaders, including Sangh Parivar, have only ended up creating controversies. A perception is that the government’s development plan is being overshadowed by the controversial statements by his party colleagues and Sangh Parivar Hindutva hawks.
World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said Indian economy is likely to grow at 6.4 per cent in 2015 and accelerate further in the next year on the back of steps being taken by the Modi-led NDA government. Suzuki Motor Corp’s new car manufacturing unit in Gujarat, being set up at an investment of Rs 4,000 crore, will be ready by 2017, its Chairman Osamu Suzuki said. Reliance announces Rs. 1 lakh crore investments in 12-18 months. Aditya Birla Group to invest Rs. 20,000 crore in expansion of cement and other plants in Gujarat, said Kumar Mangalam Birla. Gujarat is the most preferred destination for us, said Aditya Birla Group chairman. Suzuki said, selecting Gujarat for new plant as the state is superior in infra and decision-making over others. Reliance will invest Rs. 100,000 crore in Gujarat.
John Kerry, US Secretary of State has brought lots of hopes for India so far as American investments and trade ties with India are concerned. “India and US need to tap incredible possibilities….we can do more together.” These words of Kerry have reassured Indian business community that US will provide all partnership facilities to India which would go a long way in expanding sphere of joint ventures and bi-lateral trade between the two countries. Statement of the visiting US Secretary of State that two-way trade between India and USA will grow five times has created an atmosphere of jubilation in global trading network across the country. The visit of the US President and Mr Kerry comes as the United States is trying to repair ties with India that had plunged to a low in early 2014. In November, Delhi and Washington also settled a row over food subsidies that threatened to derail a WTO pact to ease global trade barriers. Two-way trade between the US and India currently stands at $100 billion – both countries aim to boost the figure to five times that. “We share the Prime Minister’s (Narendra Modi’s) goal to increase trade five times with India. US technology plays a significant role in supporting sustainable growth in India and Kerry is also highlighting the fact.”
In a nutshell, they had not discussed about declining GDP of this country, which is decreased to four per cent this year. They ignored talking about the increasing fuel prices and the government also increased the taxes of fuels. Our government is emphasising on FDI, which is not the solution for the country albeit this will increase privatisation in different sectors. There is only one way we can come out from this situation; that is by declaring black money in Swiss banks as national property, because Swiss banks deposit only private cash and not national property. If PM wants to work towards development, the government should do the development through this black money and never go for FDI or privatisation. They should also not ask for loan from the World Bank. There are poor states in India which are favourable for investment including Maharashtra. These states can also attract investment and generate income to improve quality of its citizens’ lives. Attracting big projects and developing smaller enterprises simultaneously, can help in to increasing the extremely low per-capita income. Let’s hope Modi will start “Vibrant India” too in future.
