Refuting West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's allegation that the Narendra Modi-led central government was encroaching on states' autonomy, a Gujarat minister on Friday said it gives "equal importance to all states" and "never interferes in states affairs".
"I have been working with Narendrabhai since 1975. I know his style of work. He never interferes in state affairs and treat all the states with equal importance. There is no special treatment for Gujarat from centre," said Gujarat Revenue and Education Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama on the sidelines of aroadshow for Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit here.
He also said demonetisation move was accepted at a positive spirit in Gujarat.
"After demonetisation, out of 125 elections, Bhartiya Janata Party won 109," he said.
"We have taken demonetisation in a positive spirit. We have been concentrating to provide facilities for a seamless transformation towards cashless and digital payment system. Even, vegetables sellers are taking payments through e-wallets," he said.
Chudasama also said that his state has got good response from Bengal based industrialists for investments.
"We have one to one correspondence with 15 industrialists (from Bengal). Discussion was concrete and specific. They have shown their interests. We have invited them to the summit. MoUs will be signed during the summit," he said.
Gujarat Minister of State for Industries and Finance Rohit Patel, who was also present, said: "The rate of transformation of MoUs to actual investment is about 65.8 percent, which is the highest in the country."
In regards to land availability, Patel said Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) has a land bank of 25,000 hectares and in addition, state government departments have their lands.
"The most preferred method is to take land through GIDC route. But industrialist can buy land directly from the owners," he added.
--IANS
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