Ahmedabad, 27 Sep: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 27 said his aim is to make India a global growth engine and expressed confidence that the country will soon emerge as an economic powerhouse of the world.
\nSpeaking at an event to mark 20 years of success of the Vibrant Gujarat Summit, PM Modi said they sowed small seeds of a \u201cVibrant Gujarat\u201d 20 years ago, and today it has developed into a big tree.
\nPM Modi also said that Vibrant Gujarat became a success at such a time when the previous Central Government (UPA dispensation) was \u201cindifferent\u201d to the industrial progress of the State.
\n\u201cWe organised Vibrant Gujarat to make the State a growth engine of India. The country has seen this imagination becoming a reality. In 2014, when I was given the opportunity to serve the country, my aim was to make India a global growth engine,\u201d PM Modi said addressing a gathering of industrialists and businessmen.
\nGujarat Governor Acharya Devvrat, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and State BJP president C.R. Paatil were also present on the occasion.
\n\u201cWe are standing at such a phase that India will soon emerge as a global economic powerhouse,\u201d PM Modi said, adding that global agencies and experts are today talking on similar lines.
\n\u201cIn a few years, India will be among the world\u2019s top three economies. This is Modi\u2019s guarantee,\u201d the PM said.
\nHe appealed to the country\u2019s industry to think of sectors where India can explore new possibilities or strengthen itself, and how Vibrant Gujartat can give momentum to this mission.
\nPM Modi highlighted how from a humble beginning, the Vibrant Gujarat events have turned into an institution and many States later followed it by organising their own investment summits.
\nSwami Vivekananda said that every work passes through three stages \u2014 first it is mocked, later it faces opposition and finally it is accepted, especially when the idea is ahead of time, PM Modi noted, comparing the success of Vibrant Gujarat and how it passed through different stages.
\nToday the world can see the success of Vibrant Gujarat, he said.
\n\u201cBut when it was [first] organised, the then Central Government showed indifference to Gujarat\u2019s development. I have always talked about India\u2019s development through Gujarat\u2019s development, but those in power at the Centre had also associated Gujarat\u2019s development with politics,\u201d PM Modi said.
\nThe then Ministers in the Central Government used to refuse to attend the summit, he said.
\n\u201cThey told me personally they would join, but later refused, perhaps after pressure from the top. Far from support, they were busy creating hurdles,\u201d he said, adding that even foreign investors were threatened not to go to Gujarat.
\n\u201cDespite such threats, foreign investors visited Gujarat even when there was no special incentive here. They came here because they could experience good governance, fair governance, policy-driven governance, an equal system of growth, and a transparent government in daily life,\u201d he said.
\nRecalling the first Vibrant Gujarat Summit in 2003, PM Modi said it became a success because of the State\u2019s people in whom he had huge trust.
\nHe said he was a first-time Chief Minister and faced crises such as the 2001 earthquake, preceding drought years, collapse of cooperative banks, the 2002 Godhra tragedy and the State-wide violence in its aftermath.
\n\u201cEven then, those with an agenda analysed the events in their own way. They said the youth, industry and business will leave Gujarat, and Gujarat will be destroyed in such a way that it will become a burden for the country,\u201d the PM said.
\nThere was a conspiracy to defame Gujarat globally, and an attempt was made to create a situation of hopelessness, he said.
\n\u201cIt was said that Gujarat will never stand on its feet. Amid such a crisis, I took a pledge that whatever the situation, I will take Gujarat out of all this,\u201d PM Modi said, adding that Vibrant Gujarat became an important medium for the same.
\n\u201cIt became a medium to increase the confidence of Gujarat and make it face the world confidently,\u201d he said.
\nThe summit became a medium to showcase Gujarat\u2019s decision-making process and its focussed approach to the world, PM Modi said.
\nThe event became a medium to showcase the industrial capacity of India, including Gujarat, to the world, infinite possibilities of the country\u2019s various sectors, use of India\u2019s talent within the country, and a medium to show India\u2019s cultural tradition to the world, he said.
\nWhen Vibrant Gujarat was launched, there were no big hotels for foreign delegates to stay, he said.
\nPM Modi recalled that when the summit was organised in 2009 amid global recession, everybody including his then officers suggested that it be cancelled, but he decided to continue. The 2009 summit added a new chapter of success, he added.
\nFrom a few hundred participants in 2003, today more than 40,000 delegates participate, In 2003, only a handful of countries participated. Today, more than 135 countries participate. From 30 exhibitors in 2003, the number has grown to more than 2,000 now, he said.
\nBehind the success of Vibrant Gujarat are core elements like idea, imagination and implementation, PM Modi said.
\nThe concept was unheard of in the country, but people understood its importance with time. After some time, other States also started organising their own business and investor summits, he said.
\n\u201cWe showed courage to make a developed country our partner country. It was hard to think of a small State to make a developed country its partner,\u201d he said.
\nHowever good ideas and imagination, to mobilise the entire system and develop a vision is a very big thing, PM Modi said.
\nTo organise something of this scale, big planning, investment in capacity building, eye on every detail and hard work is required, he noted.
\n\u201cFrom being a one-time event, today Vibrant Gujarat has become an institution whose system and process continue round the year,\u201d the PM said.
\nHe said Vibrant Gujarat achieved a new height of success every time because the process was institutionalised.
\nPM Modi said through the summit, the State Government (then headed by him) tried to benefit all the States. \u201cVery few have understood my thinking,\u201d he added.
\nIn the 21st century, Gujarat has become an agricultural powerhouse, financial hub and established its identity as an industry and finance ecosystem, PM Modi said.
\nIt has also helped strengthen the State\u2019s trade-based reputation, as the summit worked as \u201can incubator of ideas, innovation and industry\u201d, the Prime Minister said.
\nIn the last two decades of Vibrant Gujarat journey, the State has seen growth in several sectors, PM Modi said.
\nHe said within today\u2019s deeply connected world, financial cooperation among institutions is rising fast, and Gujarat already has the GIFT City (Gujarat International Finance Tec-City), the relevance of which is increasing day by day.
\n\u201cWe should increase our effort to make the GIFT City a globally competitive financial market place. For this, we can take benefit from our large domestic demand. Vibrant Gujarat should strengthen the GIFT City to make its global presence,\u201d he said.
\nAmid the success of Vibrant Gujarat, there is no time to pause, PM Modi said, as the next 20 years are more important than the past 20 years. (PTI)
\n\u201cThis is the time for India to make a roadmap to become a developed, self-reliant country. I am certain that you will all think in this direction and take steps for the same,\u201d he said.
\nThe PM also inaugurated an exhibition put up at the Science City here to mark 20 years of the Vibrant Gujarat Summit. He also visited various attractions at the Science City, including an aquarium, a robotic gallery and a nature park. (PTI)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ahmedabad, 27 Sep: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 27 said his aim is to make India a global growth engine and expressed confidence that the country will soon emerge as an economic powerhouse of the world. Speaking at an event to mark 20 years of success of the Vibrant Gujarat Summit, PM Modi said […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-225018","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-national"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=225018"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225018\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=225018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=225018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=225018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}