Incidentally, both Gujarat and Maharashtra, which are BJP-ruled states, claim that they have attracted the highest investment in the country.
While stressing its pre-eminence in the industrial scenario of the country, Gujarat is planning to tap into the massive Gujarati diaspora by starting five "foreign desks" abroad to attract investments from the community.
Incidentally, both Gujarat and Maharashtra, which are BJP-ruled states, claim that they have attracted the highest investment in the country.
"Gujaratis are a global community. Our diaspora is present in huge numbers abroad and is always ready to invest in Gujarat. To institutionalise this, we have decided to start foreign desks. These desks will be set up in Frankfurt, New York, Dubai, Wonju and Tokyo," said Gujarat chief minister Anandiben Patel.
She was speaking on Tuesday at the 'Gujarat Investor Summit' during the ongoing Make in India Week in Mumbai.
"Our policies have always been industry-friendly," said Patel, adding that the biennial Vibrant Gujarat Summit started in 2003 had led to foreign and domestic investments taking place in the state.
"We have started a single-window system in Gujarat. A high-powered committee has been set up to check on the implementation of MoUs and this is monitored at the chief minister's level… The department of industrial policy and promotion's (DIPP's) statistics show that Gujarat is number one in investment proposals and investment implementations," said Patel.
"According to the government of India's figures, in 2015, Gujarat received Rs65,403 crore investment proposals, which is 21% of that in the country. Along with this, our state is also number one in ease of doing business.
According to the World Bank and the government of India survey, it is the best place in doing business in the country. This survey has been conducted on the basis of 97 parameters of ease of doing business," she stressed.
Gujarat has over six lakh MSME units which employ over 39 lakh people. Pointing to the strong role of these units in the industrial sector, Patel said they were always trying to strengthen it.
"Between 2008 and 2015, micro industries grew at an average annual growth rate of 30%," she added, stating that the establishment of large industries also boosted the MSME sector.
"Gujarat is known as the auto hub in the country," said Patel, adding that automobile sector majors, such as Tata, Honda and Maruti, had invested in the state. Gujarat is also number one in chemicals and petrochemicals and has also attracted Rs1 lakh crore investments in the last two years.
The state had also come out with an electronics policy. "In infrastructure, we are much ahead in the country," said Patel, adding that 38% of the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor area fell in Gujarat, and a state-of-the-art city was being developed at Dholera.
A special park for women entrepreneurs will come up on an 18-hectare plot near Sanand and similar hubs have been proposed in Halol and Bharuch. Cottage industries will get 24-hour power supply, and policies for the tourism sector, which will give it the tag of an industry, and the film industry, which will boost regional cinema, have also been announced.
"A Start Mission will be launched for implementation of the start-up policy," said Patel.
She added that after Narendra Modi had taken charge as the prime minister of India, he had made attempts to increase the pace of growth, of which one initiative was the Make in India campaign.
"India is the most open economy for FDI," stressed Patel, adding that after the Modi government took charge, foreign investment inflows had increased by 48%.
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