Gujarat to float firm for drip irrigation boost

The Gujarat government has decided to float a new company to develop a drip irrigation network in the state.

Called the Gujarat Green Revolution Company (GGRC), the company will have an initial corpus of Rs 1500 crore drawn out of the profits of the Gujarat State Financial Corporation (GSFC) and the Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilisers Company (GNVFC).

"The profit of Rs 1500 crore is the farmers' money and GSFC and GNVFC will contribute in the formation of GGRC, which will focus on developing a drip irrigation network in Gujarat. Both the companies are unique examples of turnaround stories," chief minister Narendra Modi said.

He was addressing the valedictory session of the 'Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors Summit - 2005 on Thursday at Gujarat Science City in Ahmedabad.

"Gujarat is set to become the special economic zone (SEZ) capital of the country. It has the potential for port-based development. We thank the Central government for granting 'industrial cluster' status to Ankleshwar, Vapi and Surat, and request it to include Ahmedabad and Rajkot as industrial clusters, " said Modi.

"Gujarat is the first state to implement the SEZ Act and it will now come out with a Industrial Parks Act and a Wearhousing Act for implementing wearhousing development in the state," said Modi.

The CM then announced the extension of the date for the international exhibition at Science City till January 23 and congratulated the government employees for making the 'Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors Summit - 2005' a success with fetching investment of over Rs one lakh crore.

"We are committed to progress and we believe in our policy. Our progress is policy driven and our policies are based on reforms, and our reforms are humanity driven," said Modi.