MoUs in abundance
On concluding another edition of investors summit in Gujarat, investment analysts have once again raised the question on the benefits of such melas on actual projects investment
The latest edition of the Vibrant Gujarat Summit, was held in Gandhinagar between 10 and 13th Jan 2017. During the three-day summit, according to the state officials, a record number of 25,578 MoUs were signed by the State government with the project initiators. The earlier edition conducted in 2015 had seen inking of 21,304 MoUs. Apart from Indian project promoters, project investors from 10 foreign countries also expressed a desire to invest in Gujarat.
The highest numbers of MoUs were signed by micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME). In all, they announced around 18,533 investment proposals, followed by 5,938 MoUs by large scale sectors. Around 1,107 MoUs were signed for technology sharing. Since the state government has not yet made public the projex intentions by these promoters, the total amount of investment is not available.
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Year |
No of MoUs |
Proposed Invest (Rs in Cr) |
|
2003 |
80 |
66,068.00 |
|
2005 |
227 |
1,06,160.41 |
|
2007 |
363 |
4,65,309.80 |
|
2009 |
3,346 |
12,34,898.49 |
|
|
|
Year |
No of MoUs |
Proposed Invest (Rs in Cr) |
|
2011 |
8,380 |
20,83,182.72 |
|
2013 |
17,719 |
NA |
|
2015 |
21,304 |
25,00,000.00 |
|
2017 |
25,578 |
NA |
|
|
|
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Source: ic.gujarat.gov.in |
The first summit held in 2003 saw 80 MoUs worth Rs 66,068 crore being signed. The MoU numbers increased rapidly after 2009 and reached an unprecedented figure of 21,304 MoUs in 2015. In the latest summit 4,274 more MoUs were signed as compared with the preceding investors summit.
Major Investments
Most of the MoUs signed at VGS-2017 are for the expansion of existing projects in the State. It was noticed that Central government entities like the Indian Railways, nationalised banks, and Public Sector Undertakings have lined up scores of expansion plans in Gujarat in the coming years.
Some of the major MoUs signed during the Investors Summit are listed below.
The Gujarat government signed an MoU with National High Speed Rail Corporation (NHSRCL) to facilitate component manufacturing for the Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train project. The MoU is expected to generate Rs 67,000 crore worth of business in the state. The state will bear 25 percent of the project cost and provide land. The total project cost is placed at Rs 1.10 lakh crore.
Adani Group has promised to invest Rs 49,000 crore in Gujarat over the next five years. The investment plans include a Rs 5,500 crore, 10 million tonne cement plant, desalination plants across the state at Rs 2,000 crore and Rs 1,200 crore in renewable energy projects. The group has set aside Rs 16,700 crore for capacity expansion at Dahej, Mundra, Hazira, and Ajira and Tuna ports.
Reliance Industries' chairman, Mukesh Ambani stated that in addition to the Rs 1.25 trillion the group has invested in Gujarat in the last four years, it will add another Rs 100 billion of investment by March this year.
Welspun Group will make an investment of Rs 4,000 crore in three textile projects, in the state of Gujarat.
MRF also plans to invest Rs 4,500 crore in the state over a period of 10 years to set up manufacturing units.
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