 "Vibrant Gujarat summit hopes to brand itself around Modi govt's GST glory")
The Gujarat government under its new Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has put in place a plan to reinvigorate the next Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit, scheduled from January 10 to 13, 2017, by branding it around the eventual rollout of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime.
The plan, prepared by Gujarat government with the help of several union ministries and Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), rests on the eighth edition of Vibrant Gujarat showcasing India as 'one nation, one market' after the GST rollout.
According to sources associated with the effort, Rupani's government hopes to get the first mover advantage in presenting Gujarat as the gateway to this 'new' post-GST India, which would be marked by greater ease of doing business.
"The summit will be the first big event in India with international attendance after Parliament passes the GST related Bills in its winter session. We hope to present to the world how doing business in India will change after the GST rollout and Gujarat, with its robust infrastructure, can be facilitator for rest of the country," a source, associated with the plan, said. 'Vibrant Gujarat: connecting India to the world' is to be the slogan for the eighth edition of the investor summit.
Three separate divisions of the Ministry of External Affairs are busy ensuring that 8 to 10 heads of states or governments, a dozen Nobel laureates from the fields of physics, chemistry and medical research and 25 to 30 top chief executive officers from across the world attend the investor summit. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and most senior ministers will also attend.
Twelve teams of officials have been constituted to plan roadshows and other events in 23 countries to mobilize interest for the investor summit. These teams would have visited the 23 countries by end-October, including the US, Canada, countries in Europe, West Asia, Africa and Asia.
At the summit, a special session is being planned on India as a 'one nation, one market' and a seminar on regulatory framework in India to be attended by representatives of regulatory agencies like Sebi and others. All state governments have also been invited and chief ministers of BJP ruled states are also likely to attend.
Sources said Rupani, who recently succeeded Anandiben Patel, is more attuned to promoting business and industry. Gujarat goes for assembly polls in December 2017. The Vibrant Gujarat Summit was first started in 2003 and has been held once every two years ever since. The last edition was held in 2015
