MoUs at Vibrant Gujarat Summit to surpass Rs 12 lakh-cr mark: Minister

 At the upcoming Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors' Summit, the state government expects investment MoUs to surpass the previous edition figure of Rs 12 lakh crore.

"It (investment MoUs) was about Rs 12 lakh crore in 2013. So, it would be more than that," Bhupendrasinh Chudasama, Gujarat Minister for Education, Science and Technology, told reporters here on the sidelines of a road show held for the event, scheduled to be held from January 11-13, 2015.

There cannot be any target on attracting investments but it would be better than the previous editions, he said.

"It would be more than that (what happened earlier). All this (investment MoUs) happened when he (Narendra Modi) was Chief Minister. We are going to have Vibrant Gujarat under the chairmanship of Narendra Modi. Gujarat has achieved so much progress. We, the Gujarat government, organized it alone in 2003. Now, eight countries have become our partners," Chudasama said.

The Minister also said the state government does not mind criticism from some quarters on making voting in elections to local bodies compulsory.

"It is our view, and Gujarat Government has passed it twice in Assembly that voting should be compulsory. Let it be criticised," he said.

Gujarat is the first state in the country where voters will have to compulsorily exercise their franchise in local body polls with Governor OP Kohli clearing the Gujarat Local Authorities Laws Bill earlier this month, passed earlier by the state government under Narendra Modi, but was opposed by ex-Governor Kamla Beniwal.