India's Modi to lure tech, EV investments at Gujarat summit as poll
looms
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[January 08, 2024] By
Sumit Khanna, Dhwani Pandya and Aditi Shah
GANDHINAGAR, India (Reuters) - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will
roll out the red carpet for hundreds of domestic and foreign investors
visiting his home state of Gujarat this week for a business event, in
one of his last major efforts to draw investments before a re-election
bid.
The Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit during Jan. 10-12 is expected to bring
in around 100,000 visitors, including chief executives, business
leaders, ministers and diplomats from 133 countries, in what organizers
have dubbed as the biggest ever gathering at the biennial event which is
in its 10th edition.
The list of foreign companies taking part include Microsoft, Nasdaq,
Alphabet's Google, Suzuki and Toyota. Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani,
Asia's two richest people, and the chairman of salt-to-aviation
conglomerate Tata Group, will be among the scores of top Indian
executives in attendance.
Foreign investors have bet big on India since Modi came to power in 2014
- with the likes of Apple, Samsung, Kia and Airbus expanding operations.
This, even as some executives say his protectionist policies for sectors
such as digital payments, manufacturing and e-commerce often promote
local businesses to the disadvantage of foreign ones.
For Modi and Gujarat officials, the summit will present a chance to
attract investors to sectors such as chipmaking and electric vehicles
manufacturing where India lags, with the prime minister set to hold
closed-door meetings with many executives, state officials said.
It will be one of Modi's last big attempts to assure investors about his
business friendly policies and bolster India's reputation as an
investment destination, just months before the 2024 national elections,
where he will fight for a third term and is widely expected to win.
U.S. companies "are factoring in that the current government will come
back in power," said Mukesh Aghi, President of trade group U.S.-India
Strategic Partnership Forum which is leading its biggest ever delegation
of 50-plus U.S. firms to the Gujarat summit.
"They are quietly de-risking from China, and so India, with its fast
growing economy, becomes important," added Aghi.
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An electrician sets up lamps on a plant in front of Vibrant Gujarat
Global Summit, in Ahmedabad, India, January 4, 2024. REUTERS/Amit
Dave
HOTEL ROOMS GET PRICEY
The event will be held in the state capital Gandhinagar at a
sprawling convention centre managed by Leela Palace, an Indian
luxury hotels group owned by Brookfield. Roads leading to the
convention centre are being cleaned and repaired, with hoardings of
Modi's photos plastered across to promote Gujarat as an investment
hotspot.
Gujarat has attracted roughly $34 billion in foreign investments
between 2019 and 2023, the third highest among states after
Maharashtra - home to financial capital Mumbai - and Karnataka,
whose capital Bengaluru is India's Silicon Valley.
Just like the earlier Vibrant Gujarat summits, hotel rooms are in
short supply now and getting pricier.
Deeppreet Bindra, general manager at a hotel run by Marriott
International in Ahmedabad city, which is about 30 km away from
Gandhinagar and where many of the summit visitors will be staying,
said his daily room tariffs had surged to $420 a night, from the
typical $150 a day.
Visitors though will have to largely skip alcohol as the state is
one of India's few that restricts public liquor sales, unless
special government permits are obtained - something that has often
irked executives working in the region.
Ahead of the event, Gujarat signed initial investment pacts worth
$120 billion with more than 200 companies, including steelmaker
ArcelorMittal's local joint venture.
"We have mainly focused on traditional industries so far, but now we
are also focusing on upcoming sectors such as semiconductors,
electronics and EVs," said Rahul Gupta of state agency Gujarat
Industrial Development Corporation.
(Editing by Aditya Kalra and Muralikumar Anantharaman)
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