Day 2 sees Rs 12000 crore offers

Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors' Summit rakes in more proposals as fresh MoUs are signed on second day

Memorandums of understanding (MoUs) for investments worth Rs 12,000 crore were signed on the second day of the Vibrant Gujarat-Global investors' Summit, taking the total offers during the meet to Rs 45,000 crore.

Investment proposals worth Rs 33,000 crore were made on the opening day of the summit.

Talking to reporters on Monday evening, state chief secretary P K Laheri said, of the total Rs 45,000 crore investment proposals, Rs 30,000 crore are from Indian investors, Rs 12,000 crore from foreign investors and Rs 3,000 crore from NRIs.

"We are satisfied with the proposals received so far and expect more such proposals to come up in the coming days," Laheri said.

Corporates appeared keen on making Gujarat their investment destination after the state government presented an all new investment scenario by unveiling industrial, mining and tourism policies.

Seven MoUs were signed in the tourism sector, while another five were signed in the agriculture sector.

The state government said it was pleased with the progress of the summit so far and expected more investment proposals to come up.

Three other companies have shown interest to invest in infotainment, beach tourism and canal tourism projects.

The government announced on Monday that all these projects will be cleared on a "fast track" basis.

Chief minister Narendra Modi said this is a global event as people from all around the globe have come to Gujarat to witness its "vibrancy". He termed the summit as a "successful event" as the objectives laid down have been achieved.

He said over the next three days, the attention will shift to Surat and then to Kutch and Porbander. "Finance minister Jaswant Singh will preside over two events at Surat and then we will show the world the work that has been done in a district that was totally ravaged by the January 26, 2001 earthquake," Modi said.

However, Modi refused to comment on a remark made by the deputy prime minister L K Advani on Sunday that the communal riots were "an aberration that is over now".

Advani had stated at the inaugural function of the summit that a deliberate attempt was being made to sully the image of the state and India and this will not be tolerated.

On the second day of the summit, the focus was mainly on tourism, biotechnology, agro industries and food processing.

B M Vyas, managing director, Amul, spoke about the opportunities available in the agro and the food processing sector.

He said, "The food sector has a large and growing domestic and international market. The international market has become highly competitive due to the subsidies provided by the European Union and we need to be focused on product quality and packaging technology if we want to tap the international market." The Gulf region, Fareast, the United States and Saarc countries are the identified markets for exporting products, he said.

He stressed the need for creating brand awareness, citing example of Isabgol. Rs 900 crore worth of Isabgol is exported annually, but without any brand, he said.

Ashok Motani, managing director, Fresh Top Fruits Ltd, said "India is the second-largest producer of fruits, but accounts for less than one per cent of the world food market due to the problems of storage capacity and distribution."

"Rs five million is lost every year due to shortage of storage and distribution facilities," he said. Rajesh Kishore, secretary, science and technology, said at a session on pharmaceutical industry and biotechnology opportunities that the government is taking all steps to ensure growth of these sectors.

With more and more pharmaceuticals companies investing in research and development activities, the idea is to create a bio-tech cluster in Gujarat, he said.