Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday inaugurated the 10th edition of Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2024 at Mahatma Mandir, Gandhinagar. The theme of this year’s summit is ‘Gateway to the Future’ and includes the participation of 34 partner countries and 16 partner organizations.
Referring to the 20th anniversary of the Vibrant Gujarat Summit, PM Modi remarked that the Summit has showcased new ideas, and created new gateways for investments and returns. Throwing light on this year’s theme of ‘Gateway to the future’, he said that the future of the 21st century will be brightened by shared efforts.
Reflecting on India’s priorities whose glimpse can be seen in the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit, the Prime Minister mentioned sustainable industries, manufacturing and infrastructure, new age skills, futuristic technologies, AI and innovation, green hydrogen, renewable energy, and semiconductors.
On the first day of the Summit, multiple industry leaders addressed the occasion including the chairman of ArcelorMittal, Lakshmi Mittal, Toshihiro Suzuki, President of Suzuki Motor Corporation, Japan, Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Group, Sanjay Mehrotra, CEO of Micron Technologies, USA, Gautam Adani, Chairman of Adani Group, Jeffrey Chun, CEO Simmtech, South Korea, N Chandrasekaran, Chairman Tata Sons Limited, Nikhil Kamat, Founder and CEO of Zerodha, among others.
Here is what the industry leaders said on the occasion:
Chairman of ArcelorMittal, Lakshmi Mittal: Underlining the importance of steel in making a nation self-dependent, he 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: Stating that India has now become the 3rd largest automobile market in the world, he highlighted the impact of PM Modi’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: He 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. “We will help Gujarat’s target to meet half of its energy needs through renewable energy by the year 2030”. 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.
Sanjay Mehrotra, CEO of Micron Technologies, USA: 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.
Gautam Adani, Chairman of Adani Group: He 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: He informed that they are preparing another round of colocation investment in India and noted state and central government support.
N Chandrasekaran, Chairman Tata Sons Limited: He 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: 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.
Shankar Trivedi, Sr VP Nvidia: 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: 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.