On the first day of the seventh edition of the biennial business conclave, Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit (VGGS) 2015 at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar, investment commitments were announced by some of the leading business houses on Sunday.
The largest business house in India, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) announced investment intention of over Rs 100,000 crore over the next 12-18 months in Gujarat. "We started our journey of ‘Make in India’ - of setting up global-scale manufacturing facilities in textiles, synthetic fibre, petrochemicals, rubbers and petroleum refinery. As a part of our investment in retail and providing world class digital services, we will partner and enable thousands of small businesses and Gujarati entrepreneurs," Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Group said in his address during the inaugural session of the summit.
Another Gujarat-based company, Adani Enterprises Ltd announced signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with SunEdision Inc, a Solar technology provider for establishing a Joint Venture to build the largest, vertically integrated solar photovoltaic manufacturing facility in India with an investment of around $4 billion (approx Rs 24,000 crore). According to the company, the joint venture between the companies, SunEdison and Adani would fuel growth of solar power sector in India and create 4,500 direct jobs while creating employment opportunities for 15,000 others indirectly.
The new $4-billion facility will be constructed in Mundra, Gujarat, India, over a three to four year period. This facility will vertically integrate all aspects of solar panel production on site, including Polysilicon refining, ingots, wafers, cells and panels production with a broader ecosystem involving extended supply chain for raw materials and consumables, an official statement informed here.
The diversified Adani Group also announced the signing of MoU with Australian energy major Woodside Energy for cooperation for exploring business opportunities across a broad spectrum in the oil and gas sector in India, as part of the Vibrant Gujarat initiative.
The two companies will jointly explore opportunities in sourcing of liquefied natural gas (LNG), supply and purchase arrangements for India, LNG marketing, investment in upstream activities such as Oil & Gas Exploration, Production & Liquefaction Plants, knowledge sharing, training, joint technology studies, technology workshops and connecting local R&D institutions and universities with each other.
Aditya Birla Group brownfield expansion plan
Aditya Birla Group announced investment commitment of Rs 20,000 crore for its brownfield expansions. The group chairman, Kumar Mangalam Birla addressed the gathering at the inaugural session at Mahatma Mandir in presence of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "We are planning to make investment for solar and retail businesses in Gujarat. Also, we are planning brownfield expansions for our existing plants in the state includig cement and chemicals. For which we plan to invest about Rs 20,000 crore," said Birla.
Among the other leading investment announcement came from Welspun Renewables, which signed two MoUs with Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (GUVNL) for 500 Mw power generation from wind and 600 Mw solar capacities in the state. This will require an estimated Rs 8,300 crore investment for developing the over 1 gigawatt of capacities in the state.