New Delhi: Inviting the key industrialists of the country to the 8th edition of Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit (VGGS) 2017, the Gujarat Chief Minister Shri Vijay Rupani appealed them to become the partner of the state and work together for the growth of the nation. Gujarat Chief Minister in his address said that benefits of the new industrial development should reach to the poorest of the poor people.

In his address, he elaborated upon the inclusive growth and sustainable development that Gujarat has achieved and further stated that the state will continue to lay emphasis on ease of doing business and proactive investor facilitation in line with the vision set forth by Honourable Prime Minister. Gujarat Chief Minister also thanked the Prime Minister for betterment of centre-state relations and stated that the PM’s idea for creating co-operative federalism has ensured that states are partners in the growth of the country. States are a focal point for the implementation of many of the historic schemes launched by the Prime Minister.

While speaking at the curtain raiser of VGGS – 2017 held at New Delhi, he apprised that the State Government has started focusing on ‘Make in Gujarat’ by aggressively promoting investment in manufacturing sector. At present there are 102 product clusters, more than 200 industrial estates, 19 operational SEZs and 13 Special Investment Regions which are a testimony to the State’s focus on creation of infrastructure and an enabling ecosystem that encourages growth of manufacturing and service sector.

He added that Gujarat does not focus on big ticket investment alone. MSME is the backbone of industry in Gujarat. With over 20 Lac Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in the state providing employment to over 1.5 crore people, the state continues to focus on providing all facilitation and handholding measures by establishing facilitation desks to address their requirements.

Highlighting the need for skilled manpower, Gujarat Chief Minister said that the State Government has taken many steps to increase the employability of the available pool of people. The first step has been to partner with industry and provide skill training based on industry requirement.

Gujarat Skill Development Mission (GSDM) has been established to create an integrated framework for actions pertaining to skill development. GSDM acts as an apex body for monitoring, co-ordination and convergence related to skill development activities in Gujarat. A conducive environment has been established for skilling with initiatives such as Craftsmen Training Scheme (CTS), Apprentice Training Scheme (ATS), Kaushalya Vardhan Kendras (KVKs), Skill Certification, eMPEX-b, Industrial KVKs (i-KVKs), Flexi MoUs etc. Along with these, the government has also focused on narrowing the demand–supply gap of skilled manpower through PPP project.

Stating the initiative of the ‘Start Up India’ campaign announced by the Prime Minister he said that under the start up scheme the state government has addressed the need of entire life cycle and ecosystem. Many initiatives have been provided to ensure that new ventures are able to take the risk that comes with innovation. The framework for nurturing and supporting start-ups across the state is being developed and Gujarat will emerge as a start-up hub.

Addressing the large gathering he also highlighted the tremendous opportunity for the industry to invest in Gujarat International Finance Tec- City (GIFT-City) and Dholera Special Investment Region, which is one of the biggest investment zones on the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor.

During interaction with industrialists, Shri Rupani also appraised that Gujarat is a power surplus state and provides uninterrupted high quality power to industry and commercial establishments. Gujarat has also initiated the development of renewable energy sector in a big way and has one of Asia’s first and largest solar parks of 600 MW capacity.

Gujarat has set an example for rest of the states of the nation as to how investment opportunities could be explored and employment can be generated by laying proactive policies for investment.

Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Japan, The Netherlands, Poland, UAE, UK and USA would be partner country in the VGGS-17.

Dr. J.N. Singh, Chief Secretary, Government of Gujarat spoke about all round development of Gujarat and stated that the Gujarat Government has also focused on holistic development of social and economic sector both through balanced policies and inclusive growth. Shri P.K. Taneja, Additional Chief Secretary (Ind. & Mines) made presentation about the business opportunity in Gujarat.

Deputy Chief Minister Shri Nitinbhai Patel, Gujarat Minister of State for Industries Shri Rohit Patel, Chief Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister Shri K. Kailashnathan, Senior officers from Government of Gujarat and Government of India attended the event.

Earlier Gujarat Chief Minister also held a special one on one meeting with the President and MD of key industries and apprised them about investor friendly policy of the State Government.

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