Invest in Kashmir: Amit Shah to Gujarat’s business community

New Delhi, Jan 12: Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah Friday asked the Gujarati industrialists to consider expanding their businesses to the northern parts of the country, with a special focus on Kashmir.

Addressing the closing ceremony of ‘Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit’ in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, the Home Minister supported the appeal of Lieutenant Governor of J&K Manoj Sinha to invest in Kashmir and called upon the industrialists of Gujarat that if they want to expand their industry in north India then they should invest in Kashmir and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's efforts to make Kashmir an integral part of India should be encouraged.

Shah said that the period of the last 20 years had been directing the development of the country through Gujarat and through this summit, which started with the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, there had been a qualitative change in many things.

He said that at the time of the inception of the ‘Vibrant Gujarat Summit’ and today, a big difference was visible in Gujarat and the entire India.

“We are proud of the fact that India is the most preferred destination for production and investment in the whole world and Gujarat is the most preferred destination in India. The time has come to carry forward the game-changing beginning, which was started twenty years ago,” the Home Minister said. “Two decades ago, the people of the country accepted the vision and Gujarat model of Narendra Modi and he gave leadership to the entire country and within a decade, we are seeing such a big change in the country.”

He said that when Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister of the country, India’s economy was at number 11 in the world and today India stands with respect at number five.

Shah expressed confidence that when Narendra Modi becomes the Prime Minister for the third time, India will stand with pride in front of the world by becoming the world's third-largest economy.

He said that in the recent G-20 Summit held under the chairmanship of India, the world not only appreciated the slogan of ‘One Earth, One Family, One Future’ but also assimilated it.

The Home Minister said that the verse ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ of Vedas and Upanishads had become a guiding mantra for the entire world.

“This is a matter of pride for every Indian,” he said. “India has emerged as a world friend today.”

Referring to Vivekananda Jayanti (January 12), Shah said it was Vivekananda who had boosted the self-confidence of India, which had been devastated by foreign invasions for many centuries.

“The youth were filled with self-confidence and today a great India is going to be built on its foundation,” he said.

The Home Minister said that in the last 20 years, Vibrant Gujarat Summit had worked to transform ideas, platform innovation, and bring investment to the ground, which has benefited not only Gujarat but the economy of the entire country.

He said that the model of Vibrant Gujarat had been adopted and taken forward by many states of the country and many states have moved forward on this model for industrial development.

Shah said that Gujarat was moving forward looking ahead.

“Today, the trust of the entire country has been established, the goal of developed India is passing through our Gujarat and it is our responsibility to maintain this trust,” he said.

The Home Minister said that four heads of state, ministerial delegations from more than 30 countries, and delegations from more than 100 countries participated in this summit.

“People from about 16 states came here and expressed their intention to invest,” he said. “Narendra Modi started this summit in 2007 and today the vision of GIFT City has become a reality. When Dholera Special Investment Region was conceived, it was ridiculed, but today it has become a reality in front of us.”

Shah said that Mandal Becharaji had become the biggest automobile hub and Dahej had become India's first investment zone for manufacturing of chemicals and petrochemicals.

“Along with this, PM Mitra Park in Surat, Mega Food Park in Mahesana, Bulk Drug Park in Bharuch, Medical Device Park in Rajkot, Biotechnology Park in Vadodara, Agro Park in Rajkot and Banaskantha and Sea Food Park in Valsad have attracted investment in Gujarat. All the possibilities in the area have been placed before the industry,” he said.

The Home Minister said that with the kind of culture of policy-driven state that PM Modi had created in Gujarat and chief minister Bhupendra Patel was taking forward, investors from all over the world would prefer Gujarat and India for investment and maximum use of all these infrastructures would be made in taking India forward.

He said that PM Modi had done many structural reforms.

“A new beginning has been made in India through structural reforms. It is because of these reforms that we are performing today and transforming India's economy,” Shah said.

He said that this reform had become the basis of our transformation.

“We will prove the vision of a self-confident and self-reliant India set before us by PM Modi,” the Home Minister said. “Ten years ago we were counted among the fragile economies, but today we have been ranked among the top 5 economies. We were considered a dark spot on the global map, but today we are considered a vibrant spot.”

He said that the country had completed this journey from a silent PM to a visionary and vibrant PM in 10 years.

Shah said that in the last 9 years, under the leadership of PM Modi, there had been political stability, corruption-free governance and public welfare, policies, an investment-friendly agenda, and a peaceful environment had been provided in the country, due to which the country's economy had gained momentum.

He said that more than 25 policies had been made to give impetus to our economy.

The Home Minister said that earlier it was said that the government in power between 2004 and 2014 had suffered from policy paralysis, instead PM Modi had worked to take the country on the path of economic development by making 25 different types of policies in 10 years.

He said that PM Modi had made such a beginning with his vision that in the coming days, India would become a pioneer in all the sectors which were going to become pillars of the future economy.

“Be it electrical vehicles or batteries, green growth or green hydrogen biofuel and ethanol, space sector, digital public infrastructure, whatever industry is going to drive the world economy in the coming days, India is emerging as a pioneer in those areas,” Shah said. “Under the leadership of Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and the guidance of PM Modi, Gujarat has created a very conducive environment to implement all the policies of the Centre, which will benefit both Gujarat and the Centre.”

He said that PM Modi had laid the foundation of making India number one in the world in the field of education and health.

“With the New Education Policy made by PM Modi, India will become the hub of education in the whole world within 10 years,” the Home Minister said. “The Centre has worked to promote investment in various sectors under the Production Linked Incentive Scheme. About 125 GW of renewable energy capacity has been created for electrical vehicles, batteries and green growth strategy and PM Modi has prepared the complete blueprint for the green growth strategy. Also, the Global BioFuel Alliance was launched under the chairmanship of India and the International Solar Alliance is today on Indian soil.”

He said that India was an agricultural country and it had immense potential to become the leader in the world in the Bio Fuel Alliance.

Shah said that India's soil and environment were very suitable for generating green energy.

He told industrialists and investors that the Strategic Interventions for Green Hydrogen Transition (SIGHT) programme with an allocation of about Rs 20,000 crore was waiting for them.

The Home Minister said that similarly, there were immense possibilities in the space sector in the coming times.

Referring to a survey, he said that today the value of India's space sector was about US$ 9 billion and it was likely to reach US$ 40 billion before 2040.

Shah said that today the entire world was adopting and praising the digital public infrastructure.

“India ranks first in real-time payments globally,” he said.

The Home Minister said that in the year 2022, 46 percent of the world's real-time transactions had happened in India and every Indian should be proud of this.

Shah said that India's fintech sector was growing with a lot of innovations and a lot of reforms had also been made in the electronic manufacturing sector.

He said that as a result of the initiative started by PM Modi from Gandhinagar 20 years ago in 2003, India had become the fifth largest economy in the world.

The Home Minister said that this conference was the beginning of laying the foundation for achieving the developed, Atmanirbhar Bharat that PM Modi had pledged before 2047.

Assuring the industrialists and investors present, he said that the Gujarat government led by Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel would live up to the expectations of the industrialists and investors.