Gujarat a auto hub in 3-5 years: Modi

Ahmedabad, Jan 25: Narendra Modi, the Gujarat Chief Minister said that the state could become an auto hub in next three to five years. He was speaking after laying foundation stone for CEAT's Rs 700 crore new radial tyre plant at Halol about 45 km from Vadodara on Sunday, Jan 25.

Modi added that the presence of General Motors, Asia Motor works and Tata Motors will make Gujarat a major player in auto industry attracting a good number of auto-component manufacturers. "Vadodara, Panchmahals, Dohad, Kaira, Bharuch, Narmada and Anand districts, having large percentage of tribal population, are going to benefit most with huge investments likely to take place in these districts after successful fourth Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors Summit (VGGIS) that would attract an investment of more than Rs 12 lakh crore," he said.

Gujarat CM further said that the investments will also take place in 1,600 km long coastal areas of the state. Modi went on to say that the state learnt a lot from the ongoing global economic recession and meltdown as it learnt the way to fight it and meet the challenges. He said that Kutch district bordering Pakistan is the only district in India having five airports and highest population growth due to major investments taking place there.

Government sources said that the key investors in auto and engineering sector are Ruchi Group, Larsen and Toubro, Jindal group, Welspun and Austral group. They added that Ruia group is planning to start wagons and coach manufacturing facility and aero tyre manufacturing at Dholra. While the Rolex Rings Ltd has committed an investment of Rs 1,000 crore for auto-component manufacturing and components for bearing industry at Rajkot.

OneIndia News (With inputs from Agencies)