 "Big boost for manufacturing")
The Gujarat government is promoting the manufacturing sector in a big way with the aim of improving the income and employability of the people of the state, said Industries and Energy Minister Saurabh Patel.
The government further plans to increase the manufacturing sector's contribution to Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) to 32 per cent from the present 27 per cent in the next five years, the minister added.
Delivering the keynote address at the Business Standard Gujarat Round Table Conference 2013 - 'Gujarat: A story of Balanced Growth or Inclusive Growth', the minister said, "Today the important factor in Gujarat's growth or, rather, inclusive growth, has been political stability - firmness in decision making, clarity on policies and then the implementation."
While manufacturing has always been Gujarat's strength, Patel clarified that more emphasis on this sector was being given to secure future generations. "We are giving more importance to this sector because we believe that students coming out from schools and colleges from rural areas will require employment. This is what we plan to do - improve the income of the people of the state, improve employability and bring investment in industry and agriculture. As the per capita income increases, everything will fall in place," the minister added.
According to him, the financial stability of the state is good from all points. The fiscal responsibility and budget management norms have been met, and even exceeded. Gujarat is a revenue-surplus state, taxation revenue is buouyant, and most important, confidence in the state is on the high side.
It is not that Gujarat has looked after only the manufacturing side; it has also paid enough attention to agriculture, the minister said. "Gujarat is the only state that has given importance to water conservation for agricultural purposes. There is a budget provision under which we give 50 per cent subsidy to farmers to go in for drip irrigation. This arrangement not only saves water and power, but also increases the yield of agricultural commodities," Patel explained.
"Besides conservation, we have irrigation schemes of the Narmada River, and wherever it is not possible we have devised the Sauni Yojna, wherein flood water is diverted to parched areas. Water is one important issue in agriculture that we plan to take utmost care of," the minister said.
The urban sector, particularly urban housing, is also a priority for the Gujarat government over the next five to seven years. "It is very important that people from economically weaker sections, lower income groups (LIG) and middle income groups (MIG) get housing at reasonable rates. In the next five years we will target to provide five million houses, of which 2.2 million will be in the urban sector and 2.8 million in the rural sector. Our plan is to convert every 'kuchcha' house in the rural sector to a 'pukka' house," he said, adding that the state government was also going ahead in the rural sector with road connectivity, a water grid and a gas grid across the state.
While making it clear that Gujarat is not against the goods and services tax (GST), Patel said the state wants its revenues protected while rolling out GST. For goods that go out of the state, Gujarat gets two per cent revenue, and that adds up to around Rs 7,000 crore. "After the GST roll-out, this Rs 7,000 crore will not be there. It is a direct loss to the state," Patel claimed.
He reasoned that around 35 per cent of the country's exports go through Gujarat. The state government is investing close to Rs 20,000-30,000 crore to build infrastructure in the Dholera region. "Who will put money on developing infrastructure in the manufacturing sector, if there is no return?" asked Patel. Therefore, he felt that revenue sources for the states should be protected at any cost, and if need be, a provision should be made in the Constitution in this regard.
The government further plans to increase the manufacturing sector's contribution to Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) to 32 per cent from the present 27 per cent in the next five years, the minister added.
Delivering the keynote address at the Business Standard Gujarat Round Table Conference 2013 - 'Gujarat: A story of Balanced Growth or Inclusive Growth', the minister said, "Today the important factor in Gujarat's growth or, rather, inclusive growth, has been political stability - firmness in decision making, clarity on policies and then the implementation."
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With Gujarat managing to achieve seven per cent growth in agriculture, 11 per cent in manufacturing and 11 per cent in services over last year, Patel said that banking on this uniform distribution of growth across sectors, the state has clocked an average annual growth rate of over 10 per cent between 2005-06 and 2011-12.
While manufacturing has always been Gujarat's strength, Patel clarified that more emphasis on this sector was being given to secure future generations. "We are giving more importance to this sector because we believe that students coming out from schools and colleges from rural areas will require employment. This is what we plan to do - improve the income of the people of the state, improve employability and bring investment in industry and agriculture. As the per capita income increases, everything will fall in place," the minister added.
According to him, the financial stability of the state is good from all points. The fiscal responsibility and budget management norms have been met, and even exceeded. Gujarat is a revenue-surplus state, taxation revenue is buouyant, and most important, confidence in the state is on the high side.
It is not that Gujarat has looked after only the manufacturing side; it has also paid enough attention to agriculture, the minister said. "Gujarat is the only state that has given importance to water conservation for agricultural purposes. There is a budget provision under which we give 50 per cent subsidy to farmers to go in for drip irrigation. This arrangement not only saves water and power, but also increases the yield of agricultural commodities," Patel explained.
"Besides conservation, we have irrigation schemes of the Narmada River, and wherever it is not possible we have devised the Sauni Yojna, wherein flood water is diverted to parched areas. Water is one important issue in agriculture that we plan to take utmost care of," the minister said.
The urban sector, particularly urban housing, is also a priority for the Gujarat government over the next five to seven years. "It is very important that people from economically weaker sections, lower income groups (LIG) and middle income groups (MIG) get housing at reasonable rates. In the next five years we will target to provide five million houses, of which 2.2 million will be in the urban sector and 2.8 million in the rural sector. Our plan is to convert every 'kuchcha' house in the rural sector to a 'pukka' house," he said, adding that the state government was also going ahead in the rural sector with road connectivity, a water grid and a gas grid across the state.
While making it clear that Gujarat is not against the goods and services tax (GST), Patel said the state wants its revenues protected while rolling out GST. For goods that go out of the state, Gujarat gets two per cent revenue, and that adds up to around Rs 7,000 crore. "After the GST roll-out, this Rs 7,000 crore will not be there. It is a direct loss to the state," Patel claimed.
He reasoned that around 35 per cent of the country's exports go through Gujarat. The state government is investing close to Rs 20,000-30,000 crore to build infrastructure in the Dholera region. "Who will put money on developing infrastructure in the manufacturing sector, if there is no return?" asked Patel. Therefore, he felt that revenue sources for the states should be protected at any cost, and if need be, a provision should be made in the Constitution in this regard.