Gujarat will need $140 bn to achieve 11.2% growth: Modi

Clocking a record growth rate of 15 per cent last year, Gujarat has surpassed the Planning Commission's growth rate target of 10.2 per cent for 2002-07, said Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi at a press meet in Chennai.

Modi was summing up the gains of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors' Summit held on January 12-13 this year to lure investments into the state.

The Planning Commission has set a target growth rate of 9.2 per cent for the country in the next Five Year Plan. However, the Planning Commission and the Centre have asked Gujarat to achieve a growth rate of 11.2 per cent during the period, Modi said.

"We will need additional investments to the tune of $140 billion in the next five years to achieve 11.2 per cent growth. It will require unprecedented economic activity across the services, manufacturing and human resources segments of the industry. We are ready to meet this challenge," Modi said.

The January 2007 edition of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors' Summit saw the state raking in investments to the tune of $100 billion (Rs 4.62 lakh crore). The two-day meet saw 352 MoUs, Modi said. Reliance Industries, which started its enterprising journey in Naroda, signed MoUs to the tune of Rs 67,000 crore for its SEZ projects in Gujarat.

"The MoUs will create direct employment for 13 lakh people," Modi added. He said Gujarat was poised to see a quantum jump in investments into key industrial sectors like manufacturing, textiles, oil and energy in the coming years. As of July 2006, Gujarat accounted for the highest foreign investments in India of $73.3 billion, absorbed by over 8,100 projects.

While manufacturing and energy generation have been the key economic activities for the state, agriculture continues to be a thrust area. In 2006, the agricultural output of the state was Rs 34,000 crore, up from Rs 9,000 crore a few years ago.

Twenty-one river grids, the latest irrigation technologies, good rainwater harvesting practices, and almost 100 per cent power availability under the Jyotigram scheme have helped the state achieve high agro output, said Modi.

Gujarat also accounts for 34 per cent of India's petroleum production share, Modi said, noting that "policy-driven governance has sustained investors' faith and confidence in the state".

The two LNG terminals commissioned at Dahej and Hazira and a 2,200-km integrated gas grid project have put Gujarat in the forefront of all gas producing regions in the country. Major players in the oil and natural gas sectors in Gujarat include Shell, British Gas and Cairn Energy.

Thirty-three SEZs in the state have received approvals from the ministry of commerce. Gujarat government officials claim that the land near the state's coastline is ideal for SEZs as they are not suitable for crop cultivation.