227 MoUs signed in Gujarat in 2005: Mankad

Ahmedabad, Jan 12 (UNI) Gujarat Chief Secretary Sudhir Mankad today claimed that as many as 227 Memoranda of Understandings (MoUs) had been signed in the state in the year 2005 of which 84 projects, worth Rs 23,000 crore, have already gone into stream.

Eighty five other projects, MoUs for which were signed in 2005, are currently under implementation and 24 of them are in an advanced stage of implementation. Thus, a total of Rs 80,000 crores has already been invested in Gujarat, Mr Mankad claimed while speaking at the Global Investors Summit at the Science City here today.

Mr Mankad claimed that 76 MoUs were signed during the first summit in 2003. During the last three-and-half years, 29 projects worth Rs 23,000 crore have already gone into production while 21 are under different stages of implementation, he said adding 15 of them are in advanced stage of implementation which are worth Rs 30,000 crores.

Mr Mankad said the successes of the earlier two summits had induced the state government to plan the third summit in a meticulous way. Chief Minister Narendra Modi had consulted captains of industry in Ahmedabad, Mumbai and other cities on how to plan for the third summit, he added.

This time around, five delegations, comprising captains of industry and businessmen with only one government official (to coordinate), visited Europe, Asia and the US. Only one delegation was led by Chief Minister Narendra Modi which visited China and Singapore, Mr Mankad said. The objective of going to Singapore was to observe the urban development and port-led development, while in China, urban planning and SEZ development were of interest, he added.

''These visits were effective and gave us the insight into our weakness and strengths,'' Mr Mankad said. ''We also were able to establish marketing alliances, JVs and develop a clear vision of our developmental process,'' he added.

Gujarat's development has to be port-led development and SEZ has to play a major role, Mr Mankad said. Talking about the interest shown in Gujarat from abroad, he said 47 foreign organisations, eight delegations and 100 businessmen and investors from abroad had come for the summit. ''Everyone from the Indian industry is present here today. The confidence indicates that Gujarat has become a preferred destination, he said.

''We are aware of our shortcomings in development of infrastructure and power, and the impediments caused due to archaic land rules,'' Mr Mankad said. Therefore, the Gujarat Government has changed land laws and soon measures will be announced to simplify the procedures, he said.

UNI