A delegation of over 100 Chinese companies visited Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar today and met representatives from the state government and industry here. According to the China India Trade & Investment Centre (CITIC), a handful of agreements were signed during the day.
The delegation was in Delhi on Wednesday and in a meeting organised by industry chamber FICCI in partnership with Zhejiang Federation of Industry and Commerce, the Chinese delegation had exchanged ideas with their Indian counterparts.
According to a FICCI release, "Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) worth over $2.4 billion were signed at the conference. Amongst the MoUs signed today, the biggest is between Kunlun Chuangyuan Investment Co., Ltd. (Zhejiang) and Kiri Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. (India) for the project 'India International Trade Center in Gujarat' worth $1500 million."
Jagat Shah, secretary general of China India Trade & Investment Centre (CITIC) informed that the Chinese delegation visited Gujarat today and a handful of MoUs were signed including that by an education equipment company that wishes to set up a demonstration center for training equipments. "Infrastructure companies were interested in road and rail projects in Gujarat. However, no agreements have been signed today," he claimed adding that the delegation did not meet the state chief minister Anandiben Patel. Senior officials from the state government also met members of the delegation and discussed prospects of collaboration.
Earlier, a group of Chinese electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers chose Sanand (near Ahmedabad) to set up a $100 million EV park, and $ 5 billion fund being set up by the Shanghai Entrepreneur Association (SEA) for partnering in projects in India (of which $ 1 billion has been set aside for Gujarat).
The delegation comprised companies from sectors including agriculture, automobiles and auto-components, chemicals, construction and building materials, electrical, environment, food and beverages, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, IT, leather, logistics, renewable energy, textiles, travel and tourism, rubber products among others. CITIC claimed in its statment that 'Zhejiang Province is one of the most prosperous region of the country with its GDP exceeding that of many European countries'.
