During the Gujarat Assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had promised blanket growth and to take Gujarat’s economy to $1 trillion by 2030.
The first step towards the same was taken by the Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel government by deciding to start a ‘Facilitation Desk’ for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises to make their task easier in getting permission from various departments.
Rishikesh Patel, the state government’s spokesman and health minister, announced that the cabinet has decided to train 50,000 youths over the next three years in latest skills such as artificial intelligence, drone training, cloud computing, blockchain computing, and others.
BJP chief spokesman Yamal Vyas said “Gujarat should become a $1 trillion economy by year 2030 and this growth will be balanced and will be all inclusive with low disparity between the different classes of people.”
He added that the government’s sole focus will be on social infrastructure development and inclusive growth and development, with increased irrigation facilities to help the agriculture sector. Similarly, the services sector will benefit greatly from GIFT City, which is expected to propel the state’s economy into a new orbit. Gujarat is one state where regional growth is balanced.
As per the state budget its Gross State Domestic Product is estimated to be Rs 22,03,062 crore by the end of the current financial year. Till mid-2022, the installed power generation capacity was 44,930 megawatt, of which the private sector contribution is 29,204 megawatt.
In the current financial year, the state has drawn Foreign Direct Investment of 3,200 million $ in just the first four months.
President of The Gujarat Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Pratik Patwari, the state is attracting private investment because of good governance and decisive leadership in the state as well as the Centre, which provides a backbone to the state’s growth and development.
Patwari, citing an example of good governance, stated that industries have long struggled with double taxation. If the unit was located in a Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) industrial estate, both the village panchayat and the GIDC imposed taxes. The Patel government abolished this system, and now the units must pay a single tax.
The present government has reduced GIDC plot resale charges from 3 per cent to 1 per cent, because of which many industrialists were neither using it or were unable to sell. Now the road being clear, assets worth thousands of crores will be used, according to Patwari.
In the early years, Gujarat was leading in manufacturing sectors like pharmaceuticals, chemicals, engineering, diamonds. Gujarat now accounts for more than 45 percent of pharma products, 65 percent of plastic and plastic products, 50 percent of chemicals, and 80 percent of diamond cutting and polishing. It is now expanding into new markets such as semiconductors, defence products, and renewable energy.
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