Vibrant Gujarat 2015

PM Narendra Modi made a strong pitch to global investors, promising to make India the "easiest" place to do business while showcasing a combination of "democracy , demography and demand" as the country's unique attractions.
Spelling out the attraction of the 3Ds in selling Brand India, he took on critics who have accused him of tall talk, saying hype has its uses. "It is often said that I have a penchant for hyping things. But this compels the government also to mov e faster.They challenge us to do away with red tape and become proactive," he said.
Looking to inject a note of positivity in the economy, the PM said, "My government is committed to create a policy environment that is predictable, transparent and fair." Strong democratic traditions and an independent judiciary made India a "level playing field" for business and Modi said he was willing to back words with action, pointing to promotion of manufacturing and initiation of labour reforms intended to encourage enterprise.
"India offers you the potential of low cost manufacturing. India has low cost and high quality manpower. 65% of our population is below 35 years of age," the PM said. Asserting the India will adopt the "cleaner and greener way", Modi said the development process will not be incremental but will comprise a quantum leap. He pointed to industrial regions planned along dedicated freight corridors and said the government was working toward s a single window clearance at federal and state levels. Brand Gujarat took a back seat in the seventh edition of the Vibrant Gujarat business blitzkrieg that kicked off on Sunday , as it provided the backdrop for Modi's `Make in India' pitch.
Even as references extolling Gujarat flowed freely , Modi chose the 5,000-capacity Mahatma Mandir in the Gujarat capital to sell Brand India to the world. In the winter chill, Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors' Summit (VGGIS) saw a galaxy of top world leaders ­ from UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon to US secretary of state John Kerry and World Bank president Jim Yong Kim--warming up to the idea of `Make in India'. "Ease of doing business in India is a prime concern for you and for us ...we are working seriously on these issues. We want to make them not only easier than earlier, not only easier than the rest but we want to make them the easiest," Modi said.
Nearly 2,500 delegates from over 120 countries heard him out even as they would have realized that the PM has his work cut out -India has dropped down two places to 142nd out of 189 countries ranked by the World Bank on the ease of doing business last year. In his 45-minute address, Modi said the government was working day and night to make India a global manufacturing hub. Kerry said, "We can take advantage of the challenge laid down by Modi who plans to expand his resources ... Together, we can make `Make in India' a win-win opportunity not only for India but the entire planet."
Yosuke Takagi, Japan's minister of economy , trade - industry , said, "In 2014 alone, 1,000 Japanese companies invested in India. We plan to `Make in India' from Gujarat."
World Bank president Kim said, "For all things made in India, it is made in Gujarat which has laid the foundation for Make in India. India will guide us to end poverty with hard work of its people."

Gujarat was promised investments worth Rs.10 lakh crore from corporates, medium and small scale industries on Day One of the Vibrant Gujarat summit. Over 15,000 agreements were inked on the first day of the mega business conclave held at Mahatma Mandir in state capital.
Leading the pack was chairman and managing director of `proud-to-be-a-Gujarati company' Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), Mukesh Ambani, who said, "We will invest over a Rs.100,000 crore in next 12 to 18 months in Gujarat to contribute to the `Make in India' and `Digital India' initiatives. We will partner and enable 1,000 small businesses and Gujarati entrepreneurs. This partnership will crea te virtual cycle of prosperity for millions of Gujaratis."
Home-grown corporate major Adani Enterprises and SunEdison, a leading solar technology manufacturer and provider of solar energy services, signed an MoU to build the largest, vertically integrated solar photovoltaic manufacturing unit in India with an investment of around $4 billion.
The three business seminars held after the inauguration ceremony saw a total of 35 MoUs worth Rs.50,446 crore signed between the Gujarat government and corporates.They ranged from sectors like chemicals, fertilizers, agro and food processing, defense manufacturing, urban infrastructure and engineering.
MoUs were also signed in the logistics parks and other infrastructure projects sector where Rail Vikas Nigam signed a Rs.1,655-crore MoU with Gujarat Industrial Development Board (GIDB) for developing a regional rail network system for Ahmedabad. The Indochin Development signed an MoU worth Rs.9,000 crore with GIDB to deve lop an India international trade centre.
Two companies entered into MoU for manufacturing defence equipment in Gujarat.Bharat Forge has signed an MoU worth Rs.600 crore for defence manufacturing (upgrade & overhaul of armoured fighting vehicles) at the proposed location of Dholera. It intends to commence the facility by 2016.Amit Kalyani, executive director of Kalyani Group, said, "This is in line with the vision of the Prime Minister towards `Make in India'. We are confident that given an opportunity we can become the manufacturing hub for the world."

The 7th biennial Vibrant G ujarat summit saw yet another surge of investment commitments with a plethora of companies promising to pump Rs.25 lakh crore -$400 billion -into the state, higher than all previous meets. In return, they were assured that doing business in Gujarat will be much easier, clearances easy to come and all their issues addressed.
The amount pledged this year was roughly half of what was committed under MoUs signed in the previous six editions of Vibrant Gujarat.
Over 21,000 MoUs expressing intent to invest in the state were signed over the last two days. Another 1,225 strategic partnerships between state government and several national and international agencies were also forged. Of the total MoUs, MSME alone accounted for 17,081, which also signals a boost to the manufacturing in Gujarat, which is hit by a weak export market.
Addressing the valedictory function at Mahatma Mandir on Monday , chief minister Anandiben Patel announced investment commitments and setting up of district-wise special cells to facilitate faster clearances for land, environment and other requirements.
Referring to PM Narendra Modi's promise to make India the "easiest" destination for doing business, Patel assured to set up two high-level committees, one that she would chair and another headed by the chief secretary, to iron out all the problems faced by industries.
She also assured the business community of addressing policy issues that they faced by quarterly monitoring of each MoU signed.