Gujarat wants to emerge as a global hub for green hydrogen and other futuristic industries including electric mobility, robotics and chip manufacturing and is working on a new policy that will encourage innovative projects through incentives, a top official said.

This comprehensive policy will get rolled out in the run up to the 10 edition of Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit (VGGS) 2022 slated to be held on January 10-12, Rajiv Kumar Gupta, Additional Chief Secretary, Government of Gujarat told BusinessLine here. He was in the capital for the VGGS2022 roadshow that was addressed by Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendrabhai Patel on Thursday.

For the first time ever, a series of high profile pre-summit events as well as national and international roadshows have been planned from December beginning. These pre-summit events -- as many as nine have been lined up--will collectively highlight sector-specific business opportunities available in Gujarat, Gupta said.

‘Extensive collaboration’

“From Aatmanirbhar Gujarat to Aatmanirbhar Bharat” is the overarching theme for the VGGS2022.

The previous edition of Vibrant Gujarat summit was held in 2019. Due to the pandemic, this year’s edition had to be dropped and now slated for January 2022. Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit, organised once in two years, was conceptualised in 2003 under the leadership of the then chief minister Narendra Modi. Gupta highlighted that the Gujarat government had for this edition of the Summit collaborated extensively with the central government ministries and is in constant touch with PMO, MEA, NITI Aayog, DPIIT, Invest India and several other central government departments.

“We want to be self reliant in those sectors where we are currently relying on imports. We intend to attract investment in such sectors as defence, technology and robotics, making us Aatmanirbhar. The State is committed to fulfilling the vision of an Aatmanirbhar Gujarat”, he said.

Gujarat’s GSDP (at current prices ) grew 10 per cent CAGR in the five years to 2020-21at $ 221 billion from $137 billion in 2015-16.

GSDP growth

Gujarat accounts for about 17 per cent of India’s industrial output with 11 per cent of factories.

In 2019-20, manufacturing sector’s share as a percentage of State’s GSDP was 37.5 per cent compared to 17 per cent in the national GDP. Gujarat exports goods and services to over 180 countries with a 21 per cent share in India’s total exports (exports valued at $ 60.5 billion in FY 2020-21).

Gujarat had in 2020-21 attracted highest FDI equity inflows worth $21.9 billion (₹1.63-lakh crore), which is 37 per cent of the total FDI equity inflows across States in India.

Related Topics