Global business leaders hail PM’s vision at Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit

The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi inaugurated the 10th edition of Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2024 at Mahatma Mandir, Gandhinagar today. The theme of this year’s summit is ‘Gateway to the Future’ and includes the participation of 34 partner countries and 16 partner organizations. The Summit is also being used as a platform by the Ministry of Development of the North-Eastern Region to showcase investment opportunities in the North-Eastern regions.

Multiple industry captains addressed the occasion.

Chairman of ArcelorMittal, Lakshmi Mittal recalled visiting the 20th anniversary of Vibrant Gujarat last year in September and praised the Prime Minister’s emphasis on process continuity to create an institutionalized framework for the mega global event of Vibrant Gujarat Summit. He also highlighted the Prime Minister’s belief in the principles of One Earth, One Family, One Future and strengthening the voice of the global south in every international forum. Underlining the importance of steel in making a nation self-dependent, Shri Mittal recalled the foundation stone laying of ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India Hazira Expansion Project in 2021 and informed that the first phase of the project will be completed by the stipulated target year of 2026. He also touched upon investing in green sectors such as renewable energy and green hydrogen.

Toshihiro Suzuki, President of Suzuki Motor Corporation, Japan credited the Prime Minister for his strong leadership and thanked him for the support provided to manufacturing industries in the country. Stating that India has now become the 3rd largest automobile market in the world, Mr Suzuki highlighted the impact of the Prime Minister’s progressive approach on the country’s economic growth. He also touched upon the company’s plans to roll out the first EV produced in India while also exporting it to European countries and Japan as he underlined the efforts on increasing production capacity. He also mentioned the organization’s plan to contribute to reducing greenhouse emissions through ethanol, green hydrogen and the production of biogas from cow dung.

Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Group, called Vibrant Gujarat the most prestigious investment summit in the world today as no other summit of this kind has continued for 20 long years and is going from strength to strength. “This is a tribute to our Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision and consistency”, he said. He informed that he has participated in every single edition of Vibrant Gujarat. Expressing pride in Gujarati origins, Shri Ambani credited the Prime Minister for the transformation of Gujarat. He said “the main reason for this transformation is our leader who has emerged as the greatest leader of the modern times, Shri Narendra Modi the most successful Prime Minister in India’s history. When he speaks, not only the world speaks but applauds him.” He elaborated on how India’s Prime Minister makes impossible possible – ‘Modi hai to mumkin hai’ and said that the slogan finds resonance in the global audience and they agree. Remembering his father Dhirubhai, Shri Mukesh Ambani said that Reliance was and always will be a Gujarati Company.  “Each Reliance business is striving to fulfill the dreams of my 7 crore fellow Gujaratis”, he said. He informed that Reliance has invested over 150 billion US dollars i.e 12 lakhs crore all over India in creating world class assets in the last 10 years of this more than one third has been invested in Gujarat alone. Shri Ambani made 5 pledges to Gujarat. First, Reliance will continue to play a leading role in Gujarat’s growth story with significant investments in next 10 years, specifically, Reliance will play a major role in making Gujarat a global leader in green growth. “We will help Gujarat’s target to meet half of its energy needs through renewable  energy by the year 2030”. A 5000 acre Dhirubhai Energy Giga Complex is coming up in Jamnagar which will be ready to be commissioned in the second half of 2024 itself, he informed. Second, due to the fastest roll out of 5G, today Gujarat is fully 5G enabled. This will make Gujarat a leader in digital data platform and in AI adoption. Third Reliance Retail will expand its footprint to bring quality products and help lakhs of farmers and small merchants. Fourth, he said, Reliance will make Gujarat a pioneer in new materials and circular economy. The group is establishing a world class carbon fiber facility at Hazira. He said in accordance with the Prime Minister’s announcement of intention to bid for the 2036 Olympics, Reliance and Reliance foundation will join forces with several other partners to work to improve the sporting, education and skills infrastructure in Gujarat. In conclusion, Shri Ambani recalled that the Prime Minister used to say that ‘Gujarat Development for Development of India’, now as ‘Prime Minister your mission is India’s development for global growth. You are working on the mantra of global good and making India the world’s growth engine. Story of your journey from Gujarat to the Global Stage in just two decades is nothing short of a modern epic’, he said. He further added that “today’s India is indeed the best time for the young generation to enter the economy, to innovate and to provide ease of living and ease of earning to 100s of millions of people. The coming generations will be thankful to the Prime Minister for being both a nationalist and and an internationalist. You have laid a solid foundation for Viksit Bharat.” He concluded by saying that no power on earth can stop India from becoming a 35 trillion dollar economy by 2047. And I see Gujarat alone becoming a 3 trillion dollar economy. Every Gujarati and every Indian is confident that the Modi era will take India to new summits of prosperity, progress and glory.”

Sanjay Mehrotra, CEO of Micron Technologies, USA thanked the Prime Minister for his vision to open up the country to semiconductor manufacturing and said that it will become a huge economic driver in the future as India marches forward to become the third largest economy in the world. He stated that Vibrant Gujarat Summit addresses the visionary ideas critical to India’s growth as a semiconductor power, and also threw light on the multiple growth opportunities in the sector. He thanked the state and central government for their support in helping establish a world-class memory assembly and test facility in Gujarat as he mentioned the infrastructure partnership with TATA Projects for the facility. He informed that the first phase covering an area of 500,000 sq feet will be operational by early 2025 thereby creating 5,000 direct jobs and 15,000 additional community jobs over the coming years. “Combined investment by Micron and Government over both phases could reach up to 2.75 billion US Dollars”, he said. He concluded by underlining the company’s role in playing the anchor in driving investments in India in the semiconductor industry.  

Gautam Adani, Chairman of Adani Group expressed pride in being a part of every edition of the Vibrant Gujarat Summit so far. As he thanked the Prime Minister for his extraordinary vision, Mr Adani lauded his hallmark signatures, grand ambitions, meticulous governance and flawless execution. He credited the Prime Minister for his appeal which ignited a nationwide movement as the states marched forward competing and cooperating to fundamentally remodel India’s industrial landscape. He underlined that since 2014, India’s GDP has grown by 185% and per capita income by 165%, which is remarkable especially in an era marked by geopolitical instability and pandemic challenges. He lauded the Prime Minister’s achievements on the international stage as he highlighted the nation’s journey from a country seeking to put its voice on global platforms to one which now creates global platforms. Mentioning the inception of the International Solar Alliance and the Prime Minister’s leadership during India’s G20 presidency,  inclusion of the Global South to the G20, Mr Adani said that it set the benchmarks for a more inclusive world order and is a defining moment in Indian history. “You don’t predict the future, you shape it”, Mr Adani said as he credited the Prime Minister for reorienting India to become the world’s fastest-growing nation and positioning the country as the global social champion driven by the philosophies of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam and Vishwa  Guru. He said that the India of today is poised to shape the global future of tomorrow, owing to the Prime Minister’s vision of making India ‘Viksit Bharat’ by 2047. He also announced an investment of Rs 55,000 crores in the state by 2025 while surpassing the target of Rs 50,000 crore investments in various sectors creating 25,000 direct and indirect jobs. He also touched upon expanding towards a green supply chain for an Atmanirbhar Bharat and creating the largest integrated renewable energy ecosystem including solar panels, wind turbines, hydro electrolyzers, green ammonia, PVC and expansion in copper and cement projects. He informed about Adani Group’s plan to invest over Rs 2 lakh crores in the next 5 years in Gujarat, thereby creating over 1 lakh direct and indirect jobs.

Jeffrey Chun, CEO Simmtech, South Korea said that as key supply chain partner in the semiconductor assembly and test facilities expressed excitement for their India project as a co-location investment following their major customer Micron’s project in the state of Gujarat. He said Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit showcases a global movement of creating a new supply chain network in a fast growing nation like India. He informed that they are preparing another round of colocation investment in India and noted state and central government support. This will make India’s presence in the semiconductor supply chain network much stronger and will enable India’s local player to be part of the global supply chain ecosystem.

N Chandrasekaran, Chairman Tata Sons Limited said that ‘steady and spectacular progress of Gujarat consistently over such a long time clearly demonstrates visionary leadership and the mindset of our Prime Minister, Narendra Modi ji”. He underlined that economic development has also resulted in tremendous social development and Gujarat has clearly established itself as the gateway to the future. He highlighted the origin of Tata Group in Gujarat as the Founder Jamshedji Tata was born in Navsari. Today 21 Tata Group companies have a strong presence in the state. He also elaborated on the expansion plan of the group in Gujarat in the areas of EV vehicles, battery production, C295 defence aircrafts and semiconductor fab, advance manufacturing skill building. “Gujarat is one of the most important destinations for Tata Group and we will play a key role in its development journey”, he said.

Chairman of DP World, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem said that it is heartening to see the Prime Minister’s vision for a vibrant Gujarat becoming a reality as he congratulated the Gujarat Government for organizing the Summit. He said that the Vibrant Gujarat Summit showcases its exponential rise as India’s premier business forum guided by the Prime Minister’s vision of a ‘Viksit Bharat @ 2047”. He credited the government for developing and promoting various industrial clusters such as GIFT City, Dholera Special Investment Region and the Gujarat Maritime Cluster and said that it will act as a gateway to the future. Throwing light on the bilateral economic ties between India and UAE, he informed about the nation being one of the biggest overseas investors in Gujarat having invested more than 2.4 billion dollars since 2017. He also mentioned Gujarat exporting goods worth more than 7 billion US dollars last year. Noting that India was the world’s fastest-growing major economy in the world, Mr Sulayem emphasized that the growth is set to continue under the strong leadership of the Prime Minister. He also credited investment initiatives like Gatishakit which will help India and Gujarat realize their potential as economic powerhouses. He informed about DP World’s plan to invest and develop state-of-the-art container terminals at Kandla, Gujarat with a capacity of 2 million containers. He expressed pride in partnering with the Indian government in expanding the country’s logistics infrastructure and thanked the Gujarat Government for the opportunity to become part of the Vibrant Gujarat Summit.

Shankar Trivedi, Sr VP Nvidia noting the growing importance of generative AI recalled that PM Modi invited Mr. Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia to deliver a lecture to the leaders to senior members of the Indian government and said that “it was the first time that a global leader actually talked about AI. Thanks to the leadership of Prime Minister Modiji, it has been a catalyst of adoption of generative AI in India and also here in Gujarat. Explaining Nvidia’s forays into skill development regarding generative AI, he said that ‘India has talent, scale and amazing data and unique culture”. He also underlined Nvidia’s support for Make in India.

Nikhil Kamat, Founder and CEO of Zerodha, threw light on the overall development of the country over the past two decades as he drew an analogy to his journey as an entrepreneur. He remarked that the last 10 years have been incredible as he hailed the country’s startup ecosystem and the rise of small entrepreneurs and ecommerce which was not the case 10 years ago. He credited the Prime Minister for facilitating a stable ecosystem allowing startups to thrive.