It was the turn of the State Chief Ministers to woo investors from the Indian diaspora on the concluding day of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas as they highlighted the competitive business environment and investor-friendly policy initiatives of their governments, while focussing on opportunities in the education and healthcare sectors.
Addressing the gathering here, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi appealed for more investment in the State saying inclusive growth should be the “mantra” for the development process in the country.
“This decade for Gujarat has been one of phenomenal growth. We have not only registered overall double digit GDP growth, but our important sectors also have registered double digit growth,” he said.
“Our agriculture has grown at 12.8 per cent in the last five years and at 9.6 per cent over the last seven. This is thrice the national average. The industrial sector has also grown at 13 per cent,'' he added.
He said Gujarat contributed to 22 per cent of the total exports and 30 per cent of the stock market capitalisation of the country, reflecting the opportunities and dynamism of the State's economy.
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda termed the Indian diaspora a “formidable global force” which represented a “truly great resource” in the form of intellectual, technical, scientific and entrepreneurial excellence.
Seeking investment for his State, Mr. Hooda described Haryana as a land of “opportunities and enterprise” and said it had grown at 8 per cent even during the period of economic meltdown.
“Haryana has made rapid strides and carved a niche for itself. The State, which was largely agrarian, is now one of the most industrialised States in the country with the manufacturing and services sector contributing about 80 per cent of the State's GDP.”
In the last five years, Mr. Hooda said the State attracted investment to the tune of $11 billion (Rs. 53,000 crore) from both domestic as well as international investors and investment worth Rs. 1 lakh-crore was in the pipeline.
Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi said the government had made a huge “turnaround” in the State, which was now growing at 11 per cent.
He said the government had improved the law and order situation to a great extent and not a single case of death or incident of booth capturing occurred during the State Assembly elections last year.
Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal while complimenting the NRIs for their contribution in development of the State, announced setting up of a Commission for NRIs to redress their grievances, especially related to property matters and other legal disputes.
He said the commission would be headed by a retired judge of the High Court and Punjab would be the first State to take such an initiative.
Mr. Badal said the Punjab government had already set up dedicated police stations and exclusive fast track courts for taking up issues related to NRIs.
He said that within the next couple of years Punjab would be a power surplus State and the ambitious scheme to make all the major roads either four or six lane had been launched.
