Shell, Adani to be summit showpieces

The Gujarat government will be highlighting the LNG terminal project of the Shell Hazira group and the Adani group's plan to invest Rs 3,000 crore in the Mundra Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Kutch in a big way at the Global Investors' Summit to be held in Gujarat this month end.

Union petroleum minister Ram Naik will be unveiling a portion of the Rs 3,000 crore LNG Terminal project of the Shell Hazira group of companies today.

The Adani group had announced earlier this week that it will be investing Rs 3,000 crore in the next three years to set up the Mundra SEZ.

These two projects are considered to be among the top five major projects on cards in the state.

"These two projects and the Shell group's plan to set up a Rs 1,000 crore non-LNG port in Hazira are going to save the face of the state government. These projects will definitely help the government to improve its image after last year' communal violence. During the summit, we are going to tell the investors from across the world that in today's Gujarat top companies such as Shell or Adanis have no fear to invest as the atmosphere here is investor-friendly," said a senior bureaucrat in the state industries department.

The official said, "It will also stop the media criticism that everything in Gujarat is wrong and investment here is risky for industries."

It is also being learnt that at Friday's function at Hazira being organised by Shell, chief minister Narendra Modi will make it a point to declare that riot or no riot, 'Gujarat will come out from its dark image and lead the nation'.

Nitin Shukla, chief executive officer, Shell Hazira, said, "We will be the largest foreign direct investor in Gujarat as this state will be one of the focus areas for our LNG project."

Expressing his confidence on the success of the summit, Shukla said, "I am sure the summit will offer a lot synergy in the gas sector."

Shukla also said that his company has no anxiety over making further investment in Gujarat, in spite of the negative image it developed in the first few months of last year.

"If the state is so unsecured and the law and order situation is a problem, give us a good reason why big companies such as Shell, Adanis and General Motors are making further investments in Gujarat.

"General Motors has recently decided to enhance capacity at their Halol plant near Vadodara with fresh investments and there are more big corporates coming up with investments," said an official of IndexTb. Incidentally, on Wednesday, the state government had declared a broad policy framework for disinvestment which is also going to be encashed by Modi and his Cabinet during the summit and the Vibrant Gujarat festival.

"Also during a special four-day Assembly session last week, the state government passed the mines and mineral policy, a new industrial policy, which all are efforts to send a clear message to the investors that the government is all set to roll out the red carpet to the investors," he added.