Rising Rajasthan Summit: PM Modi highlights India's growth, opportunities

World upbeat about India as investment destination, says PM Modi

Inaugurating the Rising Rajasthan Global Investment Summit 2024 here on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the world’s investors are upbeat about India as an investment destination, and the country’s economic success has showcased the true power of democracy, demography, digital data, and delivery.

 

Addressing the event attended by top industrialists, Rajasthan’s diaspora, and representatives of investors from 32 countries, state Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma said his government’s target was to double Rajasthan’s gross state domestic product (GSDP) to $350 billion in the next five years.

 

Sharma said his government, which completes a year in office on December 15, has launched 10 new policies to improve the investment climate and has taken steps to foster ease of doing business (EoDB) in the state. The chief minister said that as part of the investment summit, the government has signed memorandums of understanding worth Rs 35 trillion. He added that organising a first-of-its-kind investment summit in its first year — it was elected in December 2023 — was evidence of its intent to implement the projects on the ground during its current term.

 

 

At the event, leading industrialists, including Vedanta Group Chairman Anil Agarwal, Aditya Birla Group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla, Mahindra and Mahindra Chairperson Anand Mahindra, and Adani Ports Managing Director Karan Adani, addressed the gathering before the prime minister’s speech, detailing their groups’ current and future investments in the state.

 

The three-day summit, from December 9 to 11, has ‘Replete, Responsible, Ready’ as its theme. It will host 12 sectoral thematic sessions, including on water security, sustainable mining, sustainable finance, inclusive tourism, agri-business innovations, and women-led startups. Eight country sessions will also be held during the summit with participating countries. Other sessions include the Pravasi Rajasthani Conclave and the MSME (micro, small and medium enterprises) Conclave. The Rajasthan Global Business Expo, also inaugurated by the prime minister, features thematic pavilions. Over 32 countries, including 16 partner countries and 20 international organisations, are participating in the summit.

 

In his speech, the prime minister congratulated the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Rajasthan and Chief Minister Sharma’s leadership for organising the event. Rajasthan was one of the states, along with Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls where the BJP performed below par. It could win only 14 of the 25 seats, in contrast to having swept all the seats in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls. However, in the bypolls for the assembly seats held in November, the BJP recovered lost ground, receiving a boost by winning five of the seven assembly seats.

 

The prime minister said the success and deep-rootedness of democracy in a diverse country like India is a singular achievement, with the welfare of the people as its guiding philosophy. Modi said India’s electorate had shown wisdom in electing stable governments. He spoke of the country’s demographic dividend, with its large pool of skilled youth as an asset.

 

Modi said India has demonstrated that the democratisation of digital technology can benefit every sector and community. He said India’s economy has grown significantly in the last 10 years, with exports and foreign direct investment having doubled and the country’s infrastructure expenditure increasing to Rs 11 trillion from nearly Rs 2 trillion. He underscored how the current century is “tech-driven and data-driven”.

 

The prime minister listed Rajasthan’s inherent advantages, including its status as the largest state in the country by area, its hardworking and honest people, their belief in putting the nation first, and their willingness to make sacrifices for the country. Modi lamented that post-independence governments neglected the country’s cultural traditions and heritage, with Rajasthan bearing the brunt. However, he said his government is pursuing policies that foreground virasat (tradition) along with vikas (development).

 

Modi said Rajasthan was not just a rising state but also reliable and receptive and had learned to refine itself with time. He praised the responsive and reformist government elected by the people of Rajasthan, highlighting its focus on welfare for the poor and farmers, creation of opportunities for the youth, and improvement in ease of living by providing electricity, roads, and water. He also commended the government for its efforts in curbing crime and corruption.

 

The prime minister outlined Rajasthan’s natural advantages, including its mineral resources, location, and traditional crafts such as Jaipur blue pottery, Theva jewellery of Pratapgarh, textile innovations of Bhilwara, Makrana marble, and Kota Doria. He noted Rajasthan’s reserves of zinc, lead, copper, marble, limestone, granite, and potash. He said Rajasthan is a major contributor to India’s energy security, helping achieve the target of setting up 500 gigawatts of renewable energy installed capacity by the end of this decade, with many of India's largest solar parks located here.

 

The prime minister highlighted Rajasthan’s strategic location, connecting India’s two major economic centres, Delhi and Mumbai, as well as the ports of Maharashtra and Gujarat with northern India. He pointed out that 250 kilometres of the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor passes through Rajasthan, benefiting districts such as Alwar, Bharatpur, Dausa, Sawai Madhopur, Tonk, Bundi, and Kota. Rajasthan also has 300 kilometres of the Dedicated Freight Corridor, aiding the dry ports and logistics sector. He said the government is developing multi-modal logistics parks, about two dozen sector-specific industrial parks, and two air cargo complexes.

 

The prime minister emphasised the state’s tourism potential and highlighted his government’s efforts to encourage low-cost manufacturing and support MSMEs. Modi noted that Rs 84,000 crore worth of exports had been made from Rajasthan in the last year, including engineering goods, gems and jewellery, textiles, handicrafts, and agro-food products.

 

The prime minister said the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme has led to an investment of about Rs 1.25 trillion, products worth Rs 11 trillion, and an increase in exports by Rs 4 trillion. He noted that Rajasthan has established a solid base for the automotive and auto component industry, with significant potential for electric vehicle manufacturing, and urged investors to explore the state’s manufacturing opportunities. Modi added that Rajasthan is among the top five states in India in terms of MSMEs.