Ahmedabad, 8 September 2014

Following is the Government of Gujarat note on Vibrant Gujarat summit delegation’s America visit:

After a successful visit to Canada by the Vibrant Gujarat delegation led by Mr. Bharat Lal, Resident Commissioner, Government of Gujarat, the delegation headed to the city of Chicago, Illinois and the response from the business community, investors and NRIs towards Vibrant Gujarat was overwhelming. The delegation spent a day in Chicago with the focus to promote Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2015 and to attract businesses and investment in Gujarat. The delegation also focused on encouraging partnership for better education and skill development, and create opportunities for the people of Gujarat.

During this one day visit to Chicago, the delegate members had one-on-one meetings with senior representatives from prominent companies and education institutes based out of Illinois including Mc Donald’s, Commercial Vehicle Group, Emerson Electric, Freemont Group, Abbott Laboratories, Gogo, Devry University amongst several others.

Emerson Electric is a Fortune 500 company and manufactures products and provides engineering services for a wide range of industrial, commercial, and consumer markets. Mr Bharat Lal informed them about the sound manufacturing facilities and policies in Gujarat and shared examples of successful ventures of various American companies in Gujarat and how they have benefited. They were enthralled by this and have expressed desire to partner with Gujarat.

Mr Bharat Lal in the meeting with Commercial Vehicle Group (CVG) mentioned that Gujarat is the hub of auto manufacturing in India and provides an enabling environment for the transport companies. The state has 3 international ports and 41 minor ports which are being developed even further to enhance connectivity between development centres and consumption centres. On the other hand, Gujarat has one of the best network of road in the country and a major part of the Delhi Mumbai Freight Corridor shall pass through Gujarat. These factors are providing and demanding manufacturing of trucks and other heavy vehicles in the state, and hence CVG should certainly consider joining hands with the state of Gujarat and capitalize on these growth enabling factors.

The delegation also met senior level authorities from DeVry University, which is one of the largest universities in USA with a student base of over 140,000. The delegation discussed the possibility of collaboration between DeVry University and educational institutions of Gujarat. Mr Bharat Lal alongwith other delegate members extended a cordial invitation to participate in the forthcoming International Conference of Academic Institutes (ICAI) – 2015, which will provide them the opportunity to explore and partner with educational institutions of Gujarat.

Some of the delegate members visited McDonald’s processing site and had an intensive discussion on the Gujarat’s value proposition to the company including availability of agri products, robust infrastructure for food processing and sound IT back office facilities. During the interaction, the delegation solicited investment in Agri and agro processing so that value chain is improved and farmers are ensured of an assured income.

A roundtable was organized by US-India Business Council (USIBC) in collaboration with Discover Financial Services and RuPay. The event was attended by about 50 top CEOs and directors, businessmen and professionals working in and around Illinois province of USA. The event was attended by several dignitaries including Mr Ron Somers, Former President USIBC. During the event, a presentation showcasing opportunities in Gujarat was made by Shri Bharat Lal and a film on the upcoming Vibrant Gujarat Summit -2015 was also shown. He also informed that due to the development of Sardar Sarovar dam in Gujarat, nearly 1.8 million hectare land with drip irrigation facilities will come under agricultural activities bringing about agricultural revolution in the state. This will create huge opportunities for agri and food processing companies which will change the lives of hundreds of farmers. Besides, Gujarat Government is visionary and had envisaged that defense offset is going to be a major area which will see immense interest from foreign players and have been preparing themselves for the past few years to not lose this opportunity. The time has now come when the FDI tab in this sector has been raised to 49% and Gujarat with its high number of airports, shipbuilding facilities, entrepreneurial mindset, skilled labor and good governance is set to make the most of this. On behalf of the State Government, Mr Bharat Lal extended a cordial invitation to American business community and government authorities to participate in Vibrant Gujarat Summit 2015.

The major highlight of this meet were the presentations made by renowned American companies like Abbott Laboratories and International Papers on their experience in Gujarat and the ease of doing business in the state. They highlighted that Gujarat has many advantages such as robust infrastructure and uninterrupted supply of water and power, state government’s receptivity to foreign investment, good governance and development oriented policies, high quality of labor and availability of agri based products which makes it a favorable destination to do business in India. International Papers also informed that they will talk to their Board for more investments in Gujarat. In the words of Abbott Laboratories senior representative, “Gujarat grows, you will see Abbott grow with you”. Discover Financial Services which is not so prominent in India expressed faith in the new Government and are keen to explore collaboration opportunities in India and in particular Gujarat.

USIBC has promised to bring a huge delegation to the upcoming Vibrant Gujarat Summit 2015 as they believe that the Summit truly provides American companies the right avenue to network, explore areas for collaboration and forge alliances with top companies based in Gujarat.

During the visit, delegation also highlighted the forthcoming IndiaPlast, an exhibition cum conference to be held on 29 January to 3rd February in Gandhinagar. The people working in the sector showed keen interest in the event.

The other members of the delegation Mr A K Vijay Kumar (GSPL) and industry captains Mr. Pranav Doshi (Gujarat Agro Infrastructure Mega Food Park Private Limited), Mr Manu Srivastava (Gujarat Agro Infrastructure Mega Food Park Private Limited) Mr. Suvas Barot (Creative Infocity), Mr. Chintan Shah (Suzlon Energy), Mr. Jaimin Shah (Dev IT Ltd), Mr. Prashant Mehta (GVFL), Mr Jagat Shah (Global Networks), Mr U M Pandit (iNDEXTb), Mr Sudhanshu Gupta (CII) and Ms Somya Jain (KPMG) also participated in various meetings and conferences to promote Gujarat and attract business and investment to Gujarat.

The delegation aimed at promoting Gujarat and India as attractive business and knowledge destination and was very well received by the business and industry leaders of Illinois. The enthusiasm clearly showed their interest in the upcoming Vibrant Gujarat Summit 2015 and their belief in Gujarat as one of the preferred destination for investment in India.