Modi no longer bats just for Gujarat to attract investment (News Analysis)

GANDHINAGAR - The two-day Vibrant Gujarat Summit that concluded with much fanfare here Thursday presented three striking facets that catapult both the state and its Chief Minister Narendra Modi to another league.

If it is rare for 60 of India’s top industrialists, representing companies that command the bulk of market capitalisation, to share the dais at a single event, it is even rarer when they commit investments worth hundreds of billions of dollars to one state — in a matter of a few hours.

Also when states today are competing with one another to attract investment from sources both domestic and overseas, Gujarat was a refreshing change: The summit offered itself as a platform for other states as well, apart from two African countries, Rwanda and Mozambique, to woo investors.

“Gujarat is a land of entrepreneurs and enterprise. We are today the sharing platform of Vibrant Gujarat with other states for ensuring better knowledge and technology reaches all of India,” said Modi.

“The 20th century was all about exploitation in Asia, in Africa. This century should be one of new understanding,” he said at the Mahatma Mandir complex here, named after the father of the nation and an icon of Gujarati pride.

Little wonder Who’s Who of India’s corporate world praised Modi and his style of governance no end, and the body language of the chief minister, often called the state’s chief executive, betrayed that he loved being eulogised.

“Modi is the biggest change agent in the state,” said Anil Ambani, who was among the first speakers at the conclave and drew a grand applause from the 5,000-odd audience when he began his address with: “My respected elder brother Shri Mukesh Ambani”.

Anil Ambani said: “Across the world, people today recognise Gujarat and Gujaratis as being synonymous with enterprise and industry. Gujarat is to India what India is - and will be - to the rest of the world.”

Kumar Mangalam Birta had similar words for the state and its chief minister.

“I believe, India needs many more states like Gujarat and to emulate and follow the example of Gujarat. India needs many more Narendra-bhais to take into league of superpowers that we desire to be in around the globe,” Birla said.

“In the sphere of development, the world is now looking to India and India now looks to Gujarat,” said Chanda Kochhar, managing director and chief executive of India’s largest private lender the ICICI Bank.

A very significant statement also came from a representative of the US — a country that had denied visa to Modi in 2005, in the wake of the massacre of minorities that followed a train burning incident in the state in 2002.

“Gujarat is a shining beacon of prosperity, opportunity and progress. I hope the United State will be a partner country in 2013 like Japan and Canada are at this conclave,” said Ron Summers, president of the US-India Business Council.

Among the other corporate heads who shared the dais with the chief minister were Ratan Tata, Gautam Adani, A.M. Naik, Adi Godrej, Anand Mahindra, G.M. Rao, Ajit Gulabchand, Karsanbhai Patel, Shashi Ruia and B.K. Goenka.

For the people of the state - among India’s most-developed ones occupying 196,000 sq km with a population of 50.7 million people and a literacy rate of 79.8 percent - there were some tangible results as well - at least on paper.

As the conclave ended — with the chief minister making it a point to pose for photos with every investor - the state had attracted commitments worth a mind-boggling $462 billion through 7,936 pacts with a potential for 5.2 million jobs.

This is higher than India’s foreign exchange reserves estimated at around $300 billion. How many of these pacts translate into actual projects is a matter of conjecture, but the state continues to draw awe and admiration.

(Arvind Padmanabhan can be contacted at arvind.p@ians.in)