Between the 9th edition of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit, which concluded in January 2019, and the 10th edition of the summit that ended on Friday, the state government has signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) worth Rs 45.20 lakh crore with various industry players for 98,540 projects. These MoUs, signed between February 1, 2019, and January 12, this year, witnessed maximum investment pledged in the power, oil and gas sector – which includes renewable power – (Rs 17.59 lakh crore), followed by chemicals, petrochemicals and GIDC large projects’ sector (Rs 5.34 lakh crore), engineering auto and other industries sector (Rs 5.24 lakh crore) and urban development sector (Rs 3.72 lakh crore). Notably, one of the focus areas for the summit this year, the Dholera Special Investment Region (SIR), saw tepid response from investors, with only two MoUs signed worth Rs 2,100 crore. Corporate social responsibility saw the least pledged money – Rs 143.63 crore - and the tribal development sector, too, saw pledges worth only Rs 187.37 crore. In the MSME sector – divided into two departments under the Industries Commissionerate and the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) – saw more investments pledged under GIDC at Rs 1.05 lakh crore. The MSMEs under industries commissionerate received pledges worth Rs 90,202 crore. With inputs from Ritu Sharma
