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From setting up greenfield smart cities to textile and furniture parks, the recent business delegation led by Gujarat chief minister Anandiben Patel to China saw memorandums of understanding (MoUs) being signed between the industrial extension bureau (iNDEXTb) and various companies in China and Hong Kong for over Rs 30000 crore.
In all, 22 MoUs were signed across sectors like smart city, textiles, industrial parks, renewable energy, sustainable infrastructure development, affordable housing, pharmaceuticals, automotive, electrical engineering and logistics, wherein Chinese government agencies and business houses evinced interest of making investments in these areas in Gujarat.
Among these, two major MoUs were signed by China Small and Medium Enterprise Investment Ltd. (CSMEI) envisaging co-operation and support for development of a smart city in Gujarat for USD 3 billion (Rs 19000 crore roughly) and for setting up an industrial park for USD 1.6 billion (Rs 10000 crore approximately). Moreover, the Gujarat delegation also held discussions for establishing institutional relationships between Confederation of India Industry (CII), the China Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (CASME), and China Council for Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT).
According to state government officials, the smart city is likely to come up on an area of 20 sq km. "It could either be on a greenfield basis or the Chinese counterpart could assist us in developing an existing city like Gandhinagar or Ahmedabad into a smart city," the official further stated.
Moreover, on its part, the Gujarat delegation also urged its Chinese counterpart to explore possibilities of a furniture park in Gujarat. "One of the only two major timber importing ports is in Gujarat at Kandla. Also, Gujarat and India as whole import a huge amount of furniture from China. This gives us an opportunity to set up a Chinese furniture park in Gujarat which we have suggested our counterparts in China to explore," the official added.
With the Gujarat delegation, Gujarat CM Anandiben Patel also visited the Qianhai Shenzhen - Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone and held discussions for collaboration between the zone and the Gujarat International Finance Tech (GIFT) City for accelerating the development of the latter as India's first smart city.
On a sister cities basis, Guangzhou expressed interest in assisting Ahmedabad in several areas of its administrative and infrastructure bottlenecks such as waste water management and road construction.
