Vibrant Gujarat Summit starts today

Since the previous summit, the state govt has shifted focus from inviting investment commitments to forging knowledge-based strategic partnerships

The sixth edition of the two-day Vibrant Gujarat Summit (VGS) 2013 is set to begin tomorrow, at Mahatma Mandir in the state capital, Gandhinagar.

Around 50,000 delegates from India and 1,800 others from 105 countries are expected to participate in the two-day summit, followed by meetings between businesses and government on Sunday. VGS will see many industry stalwarts. These include new Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry, the Ambani brothers, Anand Mahindra, Sunil Bharti Mittal and Kumar Mangalam Birla.

However, unlike the previous summit, insiders say Chief Minister Narendra Modi and India Inc are both likely to avoid announcing major investment proposals during the sessions.

Since the previous summit, the state government has shifted focus from inviting investment commitments to forging knowledge-based strategic partnerships.

“The upcoming summit will focus solely on forging knowledge-based strategic partnerships and global collaboration,” Modi had said earlier.

In the run up to the global summit, which has become the flagship event of his government.

Since 2011, the CM said, the government has started emphasising the need for youth development, increasing of skills and creating job opportunities, creating more women entrepreneurs and giving a boost to sunrise sectors such as green energy.

With its preparations for the summit being stunted by the election code of conduct and the subsequent results, government ministers and officials, led by Modi, worked overtime hosting diverse pre-events along with industry bodies and associations such as Ficci and Assocham in various sectors such as chemicals, education, ports, defence equipment, and agritech.

The 2011 edition of VGS had concluded with investment commitments of Rs 20.8 lakh crore ($450 billion). This was far higher than the Rs 12.37 lakh crore during the fourth edition of the summit in 2009. In 2011 the government had signed 7,936 memoranda of understanding during the mega event and claimed the investment would provide employment to 5.2 million people in the state.