Vibrant delegation visits US, meets officials of Boeing, Hollywood firm

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling for increased domestic defence production, a senior level delegation from Gujarat visited the Boeing company in the United States as part of Vibrant Gujarat 2015 event. Boeing is among the largest global aircraft manufacturers, and one of the largest aerospace & defense contractors in the world.

"Officials from Boeing shared their perspective on India's defense sector with them, and also evinced keen desire to partner with the international seminar on 'Gujarat a preferred destination for Defense Production' being planned as part of Vibrant Gujarat 2015," the delegation said in a statement issued on Thursday.

Led by Atanu Chakraborty, managing director of Gujarat State Fertilizer and Chemicals Ltd, the delegation comprised industry captains Rajeeva Sinha of Adani Ports, Nitin Shukla of Shell Hazira and Hemant Desai of Reliance in addition to academicians like Dr Amit Kane, IIT-Gandhinagar and Dr M N Patel of Gujarat University.

The delegation, which is on a week-long US visit for promoting Vibrant Gujarat 2015, also explored opportunities for collaboration with industries, trade associations, and universities based out of California in a bid to strengthen the ties between the US and Gujarat. The US had severed ties with Gujarat in 2005 after the 2002 riots and then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was denied visa to the country on that pretext. However, with Modi becoming PM, the country has opened up to partnering Gujarat in various seminars at the upcoming Vibrant Gujarat event.

Moreover, the delegation stated that it held a meeting with Hollywood based Starlight Global Films on Sunday for discussing various aspects of visual effects and technology based entertainment, along with policy interventions to be undertaken by the Gujarat Government to promote the entertainment industry.

Visits were also made to Smart Grid Energy Research Center (SMERC) at the University of California in Los Angeles. With Uttar Gujarat Vij Company Ltd. (UGVCL) working on rolling out India's first smart grid in Naroda and Deesa in North Gujarat, the meeting with the reputed SMERC is expected to result in a collaboration whereby the findings from the research conducted at the Center could be applied to the smart grid implementation in Gujarat, as per the official statement.

Some members of the delegation also met G Noah Newmark, President of 360 Power Group, which have invented and developed a new category of high efficiency generators that save 33 per cent in fuel. 360 Power Group is a portfolio company of the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI), and is planning to enter the Indian market by 2015, partnering with the John Deere Company. The 360 Power group has evinced keen interest in participating in the Vibrant Gujarat 2015 Summit and for exploring possible joint venture/strategic partnership with Indian companies.