Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday unveiled the fifth chapter of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors Summit at Mahatma Mandir, a newly built convention centre in Gandhinagar, with captains of industry competing with each other to announce investments in the western state. Gautam Adani, chairman of Adani Group, topped the list, announcing an investment of Rs.80,000 crore in the power, petroleum and port sectors. Anil Ambani, chairman of the Reliance-Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group or R-Adag, committed to invest Rs.50,000 crore in the state over a span of five years for various projects in the power and cement sectors. Among others, Prashant Ruia, group chief executive of the Essar group of companies; A.M. Naik, chairman of Larsen and Toubro Ltd; Anand Mahindra, vice-chairman and managing director of Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd; and Ajit Gulabchand, chairman of HCC Group, announced big-ticket investments. Ruia said his group has lined up Rs.30,000 crore of investment in the power, ports and infrastructure sectors and for expansion of the oil refinery at Vadinar. Naik announced an investment of Rs.15,000 crore in infrastructure projects. Mahindra plans to put Rs.3,000 crore in real estate, resorts and a mini power project.
Gulabchand will invest Rs.12,000 crore to set up a renewable energy park at its proposed waterfront city at Dholera Special Investment Region, being developed on the lines of Lavasa. On Day 1 of the summit- attended by at least half a dozen Indian states and representatives of many countries across the globe-some 2,766 agreements worth Rs.14.90 trillion were signed but details of these were not available. Not every project is meant for Gujarat as the biannual summit has turned itself into a platform at which other states too can sign agreements. In 2009, investment proposals to the tune of at least Rs.12 trillion were reached at the summit covering 1,653 large projects. Out of this, 627 projects involving an investment of Rs.2.44 trillion are under various stages of implementation, according to data available with the state government. Earlier summits in 2003, 2005 and 2007 saw investment proposals of Rs.66,000 crore, Rs.1.6 trillion and Rs.4 trillion, respectively. Heads of top companies, accounting for the bulk of the market capitalization of the Bombay Stock Exchange, were present on the dais. Among them were Mukesh Ambani, Ratan Tata, Anil Ambani, Kumar Mangalam Birla, Ruia, Adi Godrej, G.V.K. Reddy, Naik, Gulabchand, Tulsi Tanti and Chanda Kochhar, besides Gujarat- based Adani, Sudhir Mehta and Pankaj Patel among others.
Anil Ambani said the state, which was close to the heart of his father, the late Dhirubhai Ambani, had been singlehandedly transformed into a growth engine while most other states lacked the political will for industrial development. His group wants to set up a 10,000MW power plant in Gujarat for Rs.10,000 crore. R-Adag had signed agreements for three cement plants at the 2009 summit. Narrating the events leading to his decision to shift the Nano plant to Gujarat from West Bengal, Tata said Modi had given "a comprehensive offer in three days". The Tata group has already invested Rs.30,000 crore in the state and will continue to invest in the state. Tata Motors Ltd will sign an agreement with the state government for rural transportation for an undisclosed amount. Ron Somers, president of US-India Business Council, said he is looking forward to the next Vibrant Gujarat Summit when the US will be a partner country. This will mark a significant achievement for Modi, who was denied a diplomatic visa in 2005 by the US because of the communal riots that took place in the state in 2002. Canada and Japan are partners for the 2011 summit.