Surat: Diamond City's $1.3 trillion economy roadmap launched

SURAT: Calling Gujarat the growth engine of the Indian economy and the Diamond City of Surat "Gujarat's growth engine", CM Bhupendra Patel urged leaders from south Gujarat to work hard to achieve the goals set in the Economic Master Plan for the Surat Economic Region (SER). Patel launched the EMP for SER on Thursday in the presence of political, business and industry leaders from the region.
The EMP for SER, prepared by NITI Aayog, includes Surat and its adjoining districts of Bharuch, Valsad, Navsari, Tapi and Dang.It focuses on growth of not only business and industrial activity but also education, tourism, agriculture and the environment.
While launching the plan, CM Bhupendra Patel said, "The region will play a crucial role in making the state a $3.5 trillion economy by 2047 and create 34 lakh new jobs."
Beginning his speech, Patel said, "You have clapped a lot, Gujarat is the growth engine of the country, and Gujarat's growth engine is Surat. Now, after clapping, it is the responsibility of all sitting here to ensure that the vision document is realized on the ground. The govt is with you," Patel said in his address.
He further said, "India became a global economic power under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi, and now in his third term, he has given direction through growth hubs to make India the third-largest economic power in the world."
Along with Surat, NITI Aayog has identified Mumbai, Varanasi, and Visakhapatnam as growth hubs.
"While the manufacturing sector contributes 36% to the state's GDP, it contributes 55% to Surat's GDP. At the foundation of this achievement lie traditional industries like textiles, gems and jewellery, diamonds, and chemicals and dyes," Patel added.
Discussing the economic development in the past, the CM said, "For decades following 1960, Gujarat's development activities were limited to the belt from Vapi to Tapi. At that time, there seemed to be no prospects for development in Gujarat, which has seas, deserts, and mountains. There was no place or direction for the development of electricity, water, roads, or infrastructure. However, in the last two decades, Gujarat has picked up the pace of development. Evaluating the development over the two and a half decades since 2001, Gujarat has demonstrated what development should be like, its scale, and its speed."
In his address, C R Paatil, Union water resources minister, suggested that the NITI Aayog team include the sector of medical instrument manufacturing in its report. "Though the sector is small, huge investment has been made in it. Business leaders from Surat had to give a bank guarantee of Rs 3 crore to get a flight in the past and soon there will be 100 flights," Paatil said. He thanked the govt for allocating Rs 5,000 crore for a deep-sea pipeline to dump industrial effluent. He suggested that the textile policy will be announced soon.
"The PM said that every state should prepare a vision document and with the support of NITI Aayog, Gujarat is the first state to make a vision document," said B V R Subrahmanyam, CEO of NITI Aayog. Explaining the growth hub concept, he said that to realize the $30 trillion economy target, cities will be growth engines.
"Nearly 1.5 crore people live in SER, comprising six districts, and its GDP stands at $72 billion, nearly 25% of Gujarat's gross domestic product. This region holds great potential, and that is why we have chosen it under the G-HUB initiative," he said.
The SER is already a diamond, textiles and chemicals hub, but its tourism and agro-processing potential is still untapped, he said.
"We are aiming to lift the SER's GDP from the present $72 billion to $1.3 trillion by 2047, when India will be celebrating 100 years of Independence," Subrahmanyam said.