AHMEDABAD, Sept 27:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said his aim is to make India a global growth engine and expressed confidence that the country will soon emerge as an economic powerhouse of the world.
Speaking at an event to mark 20 years of success of the Vibrant Gujarat Summit, Modi said they sowed small seeds of a “Vibrant Gujarat” 20 years ago, and today it has developed into a big tree.
Modi also said that Vibrant Gujarat became a success at such a time when the previous Central Government (UPA dispensation) was “indifferent” to the industrial progress of the state.
“We organised Vibrant Gujarat to make the state a growth engine of India. The country has seen this imagination becoming a reality. In 2014, when I was given the opportunity to serve the country, my aim was to make India a global growth engine,” Modi said addressing a gathering of industrialists and businessmen.
Gujarat Governor Acharya Devvrat, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and state BJP president C R Paatil were also present on the occasion.
“We are standing at such a phase that India will soon emerge as a global economic powerhouse,” Modi said, adding that global agencies and experts are today talking on similar lines.
“In a few years, India will be among the world’s top three economies. This is Modi’s guarantee,” the PM said.
He appealed to the country’s industry to think of sectors where India can explore new possibilities or strengthen itself, and how Vibrant Gujartat can give momentum to this mission.
Modi highlighted how from a humble beginning, the Vibrant Gujarat events have turned into an institution and many states later followed it by organising their own investment summits.
Swami Vivekananda said that every work passes through three stages- first it is mocked, later it faces opposition and finally it is accepted, especially when the idea is ahead of time, Modi noted, comparing the success of Vibrant Gujarat and how it passed through different stages.
Today the world can see the success of Vibrant Gujarat, he said.
“But when it was (first) organised, the then Central Government showed indifference to Gujarat’s development. I have always talked about India’s development through Gujarat’s development, but those in power at the Centre had also associated Gujarat’s development with politics,” Modi said.
The then Ministers in the Central Government used to refuse to attend the summit, he said.
“They told me personally they would join, but later refused, perhaps after pressure from the top. Far from support, they were busy creating hurdles,” he said, adding that even foreign investors were threatened not to go to Gujarat.
“Despite such threats, foreign investors visited Gujarat even when there was no special incentive here. They came here because they could experience good governance, fair governance, policy-driven governance, an equal system of growth, and a transparent Government in daily life,” he said.
Recalling the first Vibrant Gujarat Summit in 2003, Modi said it became a success because of the state’s people in whom he had huge trust.
He said he was a first-time Chief Minister and faced crises such as the 2001 earthquake, preceding drought years, collapse of cooperative banks, the 2002 Godhra tragedy and the state-wide violence in its aftermath.
“Even then, those with an agenda analysed the events in their own way. They said the youth, industry and business will leave Gujarat, and Gujarat will be destroyed in such a way that it will become a burden for the country,” the PM said.
There was a conspiracy to defame Gujarat globally, and an attempt was made to create a situation of hopelessness, he said.
“It was said that Gujarat will never stand on its feet. Amid such a crisis, I took a pledge that whatever the situation, I will take Gujarat out of all this,” Modi said, adding that Vibrant Gujarat became an important medium for the same.
“It became a medium to increase the confidence of Gujarat and make it face the world confidently,” he said.
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