Ahmedabad, 27 September (HS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday that his objective in starting Vibrant Gujarat 20 years ago was to make Gujarat the growth engine of the country. That is why investors from around the world came here. However, during that time, the Central Government put many obstacles in its path, but despite this, the small seed sown 20 years ago has become a huge banyan tree today.
The Prime Minister attended an event organised at the Science City in Ahmedabad to mark the completion of 20 years of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit. It is attended by industry associations, prominent personalities from the trade and commerce sector, young entrepreneurs, and students of higher and technical education colleges, among others. The Prime Minister said that the Vibrant Gujarat Summit has today become a gala.
Prime Minister Modi said that during its beginning, the Central Government put many obstacles in its path. Investors were threatened not to invest in Gujarat. No minister was willing to attend the conference. At such a time, Vibrate Gujarat started its journey and connected other states with it. Despite this, when his own government was formed at the Centre in 2014, he expanded this goal and decided to make India the growth engine of the world. Today, India is the fastest-growing economy in the world, and soon it will be the third-largest economy in the world.
He said, “Today I am remembering the words of Swami Vivekananda. Every work has to go through three stages. At first, people ridiculed it. Then they protest. Later, they accept it. Even before the massive earthquake of 2001, Gujarat was facing a famine situation for a long time. Lakhs of people were affected by the earthquake. Meanwhile, the heartbreaking incident in Godhra happened. After that, Gujarat burst into flames of violence.”
He said that today, 135 countries, 40 thousand delegates, and more than 2 thousand exhibitors participated in Vibrant Gujarat. The success of Vibrant Gujarat reflects his dedication to the state and his immense love for it. He said that at one time, Gujarat was known only as a trading state. Today, agriculture, industry, and financial institutions have expanded here on a large scale. Vibrant Gujarat has made a huge contribution to this. During this, the Prime Minister appealed to the industry to identify the areas in which India can expand.
Earlier, state Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel said, “This is the pinnacle of success. The journey to the top started with 300 business partners. The Prime Minister has given world-class projects like Gift City Dholera to Gujarat.” The country's leading industrialist, Lakshmi Mittal, who was present at the ceremony, said, India is the fastest-growing economy in the world.
The journey of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit began on September 28, 2003, when Narendra Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat. It has now become a truly global event, achieving the status of being one of the most prominent business summits in India. Over the last 20 years, the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit has evolved from making Gujarat a preferred investment destination to shaping the new India. The unmatched success of Vibrant Gujarat became a role model for the entire country and has inspired other Indian states to organise such investment summits.
Hindusthan Samachar/Indrani Sarkar
