“The previous four ‘Vibrant Gujarat’ events were meant to attract investment for Gujarat. With ‘Vibrant Gujarat 2011’ Summit, we want investment to go to every Indian state. Representative of any state can come here and sign MOUs with any global company present.” Said Shri. Narendra Modi, Hon’ble Chief Minister, Government of Gujarat while addressing the interactive meet on The Vibrant Gujarat-The Global Business Hub with CII as a national partner.

Though the idea for the event was to invite captains of the industry to the Vibrant Gujarat 2011 event to be held on 12th and 13th Jan 2011, the focus shifted to how the Indian economy is growing, thanks to Gujarat. “I always say, ‘Gujarat’s growth, for India’s growth.’ To make India emerge and grow, its States have to grow stronger. Gujarat is perfect example of that with double digit growth rate even during recession and monopoly in various industries across the spectrum,” said Shri. Modi. Despite having only 6% of the national population and 6% of its land mass, Gujarat manages 22% of the India’s export.

Mr. Arun Nanda, Chairman, Confederation of Indian Industry, Western Region outlined the achievements of ‘Vibrant Gujarat 2009’ that saw over 3300 MOUs signed with an investment of US$ 240 billion with prospective investors.

A K Joti, Chief Secretary, Government of Gujarat, said, “It is not for nothing that Gujarat is acclaimed as India’s growth engine. It leads in both the economic and social index, is fast becoming the preferred global business hub, has robust infrastructure and to top it all is the intrinsically entrepreneurial spirit of the Gujarati people. In the golden jubilee year of Gujarat’s formation, we hope you will become partners in the success of Gujarat.”

M Sahu, Principal Secretary – Industries & Mines Department, Government of Gujarat outlined the 10 building blocks that makes Gujarat a global success including a robust physical infrastructure, 24×7 power supply, large number of ports, ready to employ human resources, proactive governance etc.

Who were present?

-Essar Group head Shashi Ruia, accompanied by group director Prashant Ruia
-Anand Mahindra, vice chairman and managing director of the Mahindra Group
-B K Goenka, chief of Welspun, a leading steel pipe company
-Vijay Kalantri, chairman of Balaji Infra Projects
-Nikhil Meswani, executive director of Reliance Industries
-Jay Mehta, executive vice chairman of Gujarat Sidhee Cement