Take of the captains of industry, govt official on visit to China

Ahmedabad, 13 November, 2011

Describing Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s five-day long China visit as successful and fruitful, the delectation members who accompanied Mr. Modi in his China visit, told media persons today that the visit will give boost to Chinese investment in Gujarat in future.

The delegation members stated that Chinese companies were enthusiastic to invest in Gujarat because of “industrial peace” here.

“After knowing about Gujarat’s growth, it seems they(the Chinese) are interested deeply in investment in renewable energy, power sector, port sector and IT sector in the state, said Shri Parimal Nathwani, Group President of Reliance Industries Limited, Rajya Sabha MP and one of the members of Chief Minister Modi’s delegation.

Reacting to apprehension among local firms that entry of Chinese companies would increase dumping and will adversly affect the local industries, Shri Parimal Nathwani said, “we don’t need to fear about Chinese dumping because what we are looking is investment of Chinese company in high value things that can not be dumped.”

Nathwani added, “it’s a win-win situation for country, Gujarat and China also.”

“We will send a proposal to central government to start a direct flight connecting Ahmedabad to Beijing an Shanghai. There’s vast difference between the China of 10-15 years back and now. Presently many Gujarati industrialists are connected to China through commerce. Reliance industry individually has Rs 2500 worth of trade with China. Similarly Adani group, Bharat forge, Suzlon, Mamata engineering are also involved in business with China. Therefore there’s a need for direct flight between Gujarat and China. We also propose Bangalore-Ahmedabad-Chengdu flight.”

Speaking to media persons, shri Maheshwar Sahu, Principal Secretary to Industries, government of Gujarat said, “We will see their response for a period of about three-four months. We are interested in Chinese township in Gujarat with two-three anchor companies, and other smaller companies setting up their facilities. As per our row estimation, we target around 50,000 crore investment, which is 10% of nation’s total targeted investment in next five years.”

“A delegation of Textile Machinery manufacturing companies from China will be visiting day after tomorrow here to explore investment opportunities,” Sahu said.

Amongst the outcome on specific projects and proposals taken up during the visit, Sahu said, a dialogue has been initiated on providing better flight-connectivity from Ahmedabad to Beijing and Shanghai.

Chinese telecom major Huwaei shall consider a proposal to set a manufacturing base in Gujarat, a research and development centre with a focus on e-governance and a future technology solutions laboratory.

“China is thinking over its investment policy, as they are sitting over surpluses and looking to diversifying the portfolio,” Sintex MD S P Dangayach said, replying to the query on cheaper fund-providing companies from China looking to lend in India.

“But, as we go forward, there will be possibility of them (China) creating an India-dedicated fund or Gujarat-dedicated fund,” Dangayach said.

An MOU was signed between India-China Economic and Cultural Council (ICEC) and Panzhichua Guanghua Group (PGG) for developing a business relationship between Sichuan province and Gujarat, yesterday.

PGG Chairman Yangpianlong and ICEC Chairman Jagat Shah signed the MOU yesterday in China in presence of the Gujarat Chief Minister.

“As part of this MoU China’s PGG will make available office space to ICEC in Chengdu to open its office for Sichuan province,” Jagat Shah said.

They shall also help to coordinate with Sichuan-based companies for trade, investment, education, tourism & culture between Sichuan & Gujarat and India, he said.

Comapanies that may invest in Gujarat in near future are Scandisk(pen drive maker), DEC Limited(thermal power), Hogua group limited(rig manufacturer) among others. Chinese transformer manufacturer Tebian Electric Apparatus Stock Co has already announce investment of $400 million in Gujarat. A delegation from China Rail Engineering is expected to assess the potential of high speed trains in Gujarat in the next few months. Chinese telecom equipment maker Huawai Technologies plans to set up its Indian manufacturing base in Gujarat along with a R&D centre focusing on e-governance. The company will also focus on producing mobile device and infrastructure equipment.It will also look at options like setting up a data centre, developing a smart city project for Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar and develop database for the government in cloud.

Over 50 Chinese firms have shown interest in investment in Gujarat while 200 companies from China might participate in the next Vibrant Gujarat Investment Summit in 2013. All business related developments with China in the state will take place through the Indo-China Economic and Cultural Council.

80% of the embroidery machines used in Surat’s textile industry are manufactured in China. Companies manufacturing embroidery machines can set up their manufacturing units in Gujarat to create a win-win situation.

Shri Mahendra Patel, Pranav Adani, Manish Kiri, Jagat Shah, Rajesh Jain, S.B.Dangayach, Zahir, Zahir Langarana among others were also part of Shri Modi’s delegation to China.