Sustainable infrastructure, renewable energy and national hydrogen mission will be among the focus areas of the biennial Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit (VGGS), which has already seen the state government signing MoUs with 20 companies worth Rs 25,000 crore, Gujarat Chief Secretary Pankaj Kumar said.
Around 70 per cent of the memorandum of understandings (MoUs) signed with companies at the Summit get fructified over a period of time, Kumar said, describing it as a good success rate.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate on January 10 the three-day VGGS 2022 at Gandhinagar that seeks to attract investment in the state across sectors.
''The focus areas of VGGS 2022 would be key national initiatives and topics of global relevance that includes sustainable infrastructure and manufacturing, national hydrogen mission, renewable energy, electric mobility and futuristic technologies,'' Kumar told PTI in an interview here.
He said the state government has already started signing MoUs with companies. ''Just in the last week itself, we have signed MoUs with 20 companies worth around Rs 25,000 crore. This is the first set of MoUs that we have signed. And on every Monday, till VGGS 2022 on January 10, we will have MoUs signed,'' he stated.
The prominent sectors from where companies would be participating in VGGS 2022 would be renewable energy, chemicals, food processing and financial services, he said.
''I can tell you around 70 per cent of the MoUs that are signed during VGGS get fructified. And that is a good success rate,'' he stated.
''It (fructification) depends on the type of project. Some projects have very long gestation period. It may take many years. One has to see over a period of time. So this 70 per cent is generally the realisation that we achieve,'' he mentioned.
This -- 70 per cent realisation -- has been the experience when the MoUs of the last few VGGS were analysed, he stated. A total of 28,360 MoUs were signed during the last VGGS summit in 2019 while 25,578 MoUs were signed during VGGS 2017.
The 10th edition of the VGGS would have the theme of ''Atmanirbhar Gujarat to Atmanirbhar Bharat (Self-reliant Gujarat to Sel-reliant India)'', he said. ''There will be a lot of companies from countries such as the USA, the UK, France, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Italy, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar which will be participating in VGGS 2022,'' he stated.
When asked how much employment has been generated by the VGGS, he stated, ''As per the survey report of NSO, we have the lowest unemployment rate in India currently of 3.4 per cent. These are the latest figures. Vibrant Gujarat has been the most influencing factor in job creation.'' Due to this pace and type of industrialisation, both direct and indirect unemployment is generated, he said.
Overall unemployment rate is the best indicator to judge or to evaluate the combined effect of government intervention in job creation, he stated. The first Vibrant Gujarat summit was organised in 2003, when Modi was the Gujarat chief minister.
''Last financial year 2020-21 was the year of the pandemic. In spite of that, 37 per cent of the total FDI across states in India came to Gujarat. In absolute numbers, it was $21.9 billion (one billion is equal to 100 crores),'' he noted.
''The whole world is recovering from the pandemic. So, there should be an increase in FDI inflow in this financial year,'' he added.
(With inputs from PTI)
