Chief ministers vied with each other to showcase their business-friendly measures on the last day of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas here on Friday.

At the CM's session on 'Investment Opportunities in States' at Mahatma Mandir, the leaders competed to get ahead of the 'Gujarat Model' for industrial development'.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his tenure as Gujarat chief minister, had advocated for the single-window system for creating conducive environment for the investors. Going a step ahead, Prakash Singh Badal, Punjab Chief Minister, said the State has created a system of 'Single Person' clearance system for industrial proposals.

"We want to bring Punjab on the top in industrial production. In several places, it is single window clearance. We have moved ahead from it to Single Person. A single person will be vested with the duty to coordinate with all the departments. Modiji has called for Make in India, I would say, come make in Punjab," he said at the gathering of the NRIs.

Interestingly, Punjab had campaigned its business summit in December 2013 on the lines of Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit under the brand name of Progressive Punjab.

Countering Punjab CM's pitch, Shivraj Singh Chauhan, chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, stated, "We don't have a 'Single Window', but we have installed 'Single Door' system. Every Monday, I meet investors myself with my team of assistants from different departments. Whatever decisions have to be taken we take it instantly there. Come to M.P. to invest because I am there." He claimed that MP has achieved sustained double digit GSDP growth of 11.09 per cent.

Rajnath: 'It should be cooperation, not competition'

However, this comes after Home Minister Rajnath Singh tried to set the tone of cooperation rather than competition. "We want to do away with regional imbalances and lopsided development. Ours is a cooperative federalism not a competitive one. There could be difference of opinion, but there shouldn't be disunity. We have to work together with collective wisdom," Singh said in inaugural address.

The chief ministers made a strong pitch from the same platform on which the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been wooing investors through Vibrant Gujarat Global Summits. In fact, the seventh edition of VGGS-2015 will kick off from the same venue on January 11.

AP's growth agenda

Joining the CMs of Madhya Pradesh and Punjab was Chandrababu Naidu, chief minister, Andhra Pradesh. Naidu, who is known for the revolution in information technology and making Hyderabad as India's silicon valley during his previous stint as chief minister stated that now he was heading an entirely new Andhra Pradesh after separation of Telangana.

"Ours is the sunrise state of the country. There are talks of Single Window and Single Door. We are a new state. It is difficult to compete with them. So, I want to use computer for that. We will introduce single desk for investors to help them have complete access to information online. It will also provide them a virtual tour of the land they want to set up project on," said Naidu amid applause. Naidu also attracted overseas visitors by projecting growth agenda of the state on a powerpoint presentation.

India's 'vibrant state is Karnataka, not Gujarat'

The newly elected chief minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis mentioned that the state already has conducive environment for investors. Yet, he acknowledged the need for providing facility to make 'doing business easier'. "We have fast-tracked implementation and decision making. Yet, we have to take additional measures towards ease of doing business," he told the gathering. The state is proposing to invest about Rs 100,000 crore towards infrastructure.

Meanwhile, in a separate pavilion, RV Deshpande, minister for tourism and higher education, Government of Karnataka, rubbished the claims made by Gujarat on business-friendliness.

"If there is any vibrant state in the country, that is not Gujarat, but Karnataka. We have transparency, quick decision making, homely atmosphere and ease of doing business," Deshpande informed the audience at the Separate State session here.

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