VIBRANT GUJARAT GLOBAL SUMMIT : A BEACON OF ECONOMIC RENAISSANCE

Indian independence was a turning point in its economic history, the country, with 13% literacy, was poor as a result of steady deindustrialization by Britain. India’s share of world income shrank from 22% in 1700 to 4% in 1950. According to former PM Manmohan Singh, the brightest jewel in the British crown, India was the poorest country in the world in terms of per capita income at the beginning of 20th Century. Up to 1980, the Indian economy averaged just 3.5% of GDP growth. The planning commission was setup in 1950 to oversee the entire range of planning, resource allocation, and appraisal of five-year plan, influenced by the socialist model of the USSR. The first five-year plan focussed on agriculture and second on developing industry. The second plan paved the way for the public sector and ushered in License Raj. The private sector was kept on tight leash through a system of licenses. Nehru identified power and steel as the key basis of planning. The IITs and Atomic Energy Commission were the other modern temples of independent India. After Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri renewed focus on agriculture and defence. Indira Gandhi brought in green revolution led by M S Swaminathan and white revolution guided by Varghese Kurian making India self-reliant in food and dairy product. Socialism reached its zenith when the banks and some of the industries were nationalized. Coca Cola and IBM shut their operations during Janta Party regime because of government policies. Indira Gandhi returned to power in 1980 and attempted to dilute the License Raj. Rajiv Gandhi is credited for ushering in the Information Technology and telecom revolution in the country. The GDP in 1980s improved to 5.5% because of modest liberalization and government’s spending spree. This spending spree was unsustainable and resulted in almost empty foreign reserves.

  In 1991, India embarked on major reforms to liberalize its economy by the then finance minister Manmohan Singh in the regime of PM Narasimha Rao. During this era, Soviet Union was collapsing, proving that more socialism could not be the solution of India’s ills. Deng Xiaoping had revolutionised China with market friendly reforms. India took two years to stabilize and achieved a record growth of 7.5% in 1994-97. Every successive government that came to power continued down the path of economic liberalization. The euphoria dimmed after 2010-11 during Manmohan Singh government with the problems of corruption allegations and bank losses led to paralysis in decision making and the economy slowed down. The new BJP government led by PM Modi took steps to solve the problems and the growth picked up. India’s GDP reached USD one trillion in 2007, USD two trillion in 2014 and about USD four trillion in 2023 (approximate figures). The country is on fast road to development.

 The Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit was first launched in 2003 by the then Deputy Prime Minister of India, L K Advani, in the presence of the then Gujarat CM Narendra Modi and other dignitaries. And over the years, it has evolved into one of the most important economic platforms. It is organized biennially by the government of Gujarat and supported by various industry associations, both at national and international levels. Its basic objective is to promote Gujarat as an attractive investment destination. On this platform the business leaders, policymakers and investors explore opportunities for investment collaborations and partnerships in various sectors of the economy. Hundreds of MOUs are signed worth billions of dollars in each summit. In 2015, the summit recorded a historic moment with the presence of the then US President Barack Obama, reflecting the international significance the event had achieved. The tenth summit was inaugurated by PM Modi on 10th January 2024, with the UAE’s President H.H. Sheikh Mohammad bin Zayed Al Nahyan as the Chief Guest, focussed on the theme ‘Gateway to Future’. The focus was on semiconductors, green hydrogen (GH2), electric vehicle, renewable energy, and fourth industrial revolution ‘4IR’ or ‘Industry 4.0’. The summit has proved to be pivotal in bringing the best and most innovative solutions from across the globe to the forefront. The resurgence of Kutch after 2001 earthquake and infrastructure development from improved water supply and 24×7 power, are considered key areas of Gujarat’s growth story. In the last 20 years, the summit has been in some way behind every infrastructural development besides job creation. Earlier the state was known for pharma and chemical sectors but now the growth has been achieved in other sectors as well like automobiles, ceramics, renewable energy, and ports. There is going to be the beginning of manufacturing in sectors like semiconductors, aircrafts, defence and space related equipments, and hydrogen ecosystem. It was the vision of Modi to take such initiative which has transformed Gujarat. To attract investors the basic requirements are good law and order and supporting infrastructure. Fortunately Gujarat has both. The business acumen of Gujaratis and strong fundamentals of the state’s economy have been instrumental in the sustained growth of 20 years.

Gujarat International Finance Tech City, popularly known as GIFT city, has been built near Gandhinagar with world-class infrastructure. It is India’s first operational greenfield smart city and international financial services centre, housing many multinational banks, fintech entities, first international bullion exchange, two stock exchanges, residential colonies, hotels, and other amenities. The time is not too far when this city will be compared with Dubai and Singapore.

 Several other states including Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and West Bengal have emulated the idea of hosting such summits and attracted good investments. In this decade, Bharat has seen tremendous achievements. We have reached the moon, Aditya L1 is in place to know more about the Sun, hosted G20, we are the 5th economy in the world and will be 3rd in a few years. Internationally, the image of the country has become significantly high, and PM Modi is rated as one of the top leaders of the world. Ayodhya is scripting new history, Ram Mandir (Rashtra Mandir) has come up, attempts are being made to restore Ayodhya as a major spiritual and cultural city on the world map. Ram Rajya, the dream of Mahatma Gandhi, is not too far. This has been possible because of the stable government at the centre and the vision of the Prime Minister. The momentum needs to continue.




 

By Manoj Dubey
Principal (Retd.)
Delhi Public Schools

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