Global business leaders hail PM Modi's vision amid rollout of investment plans (Round up)

Gandhinagar, Jan 10 (IANS) Global business leaders hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of a developed India as they unveiled their investment plans for the country at the 10th edition of Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2024 which was inaugurated by the PM on Wednesday.

Sanjay Mehrotra, CEO of US chip manufacturing giant Micron, thanked the Prime Minister for his vision to open up the country to semiconductor manufacturing.

He said that it will become a huge economic driver in the future as India marches forward to become the third largest economy in the world.

He said that the first phase of his company’s semiconductor facility in Gujarat covering an area of 500,000 sq feet will be operational by early 2025 thereby creating 5,000 direct jobs and 15,000 additional community jobs over the coming years.

“Combined investment by Micron and Government over both phases could reach up to 2.75 billion US Dollars,” Sanjay Mehrotra said.

ArcelorMittal chairman Lakshmi Mittal praised the Prime Minister’s emphasis on process continuity to create an institutionalised framework for the mega global event of Vibrant Gujarat Summit.

He said that the first phase of ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India Hazira Expansion Project will be completed by the stipulated target year of 2026.

He also touched upon investing in green sectors such as renewable energy and green hydrogen.

Suzuki Motor Corporation President Toshihiro Suzuki credited the Prime Minister for his strong leadership and thanked him for the support provided to manufacturing industries in the country.

He said that India has now become the 3rd largest automobile market in the world.

He also touched upon the company’s plans to roll out the first EV produced in India while also exporting it to European countries and Japan as he underlined the efforts on increasing production capacity.

Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani expressed pride in being a part of every edition of the Vibrant Gujarat Summit so far and thanked the Prime Minister for his extraordinary vision.

“You don’t predict the future, you shape it,” Adani.

He credited the Prime Minister for reorienting India to become the world’s fastest-growing nation and positioning the country as the global social champion driven by the philosophies of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam and Vishwa Guru.

Adani lauded the Prime Minister’s achievements on the international stage and highlighted the nation’s journey from a country seeking to put its voice on global platforms to one which now creates global platforms.

He also credited Prime Minister’s leadership during India’s G20 presidency.

Reliance Group chairman Mukesh Ambani called Vibrant Gujarat the most prestigious investment summit in the world today as no other summit of this kind has continued for 20 long years and is going from strength to strength.

“This is a tribute to our Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision and consistency,” he said.

He said Reliance will play a major role in making Gujarat a global leader in green growth.

“We will help Gujarat’s target to meet half of its energy needs through renewable energy by the year 2030,” Ambani said.

He said that 5000 acre Dhirubhai Energy Giga Complex is coming up in Jamnagar which will be ready to be commissioned in the second half of 2024 itself.

“Due to the fastest roll out of 5G, today Gujarat is fully 5G enabled. This will make Gujarat a leader in digital data platform and in AI adoption,” Ambani said.

He said that Reliance Retail will expand its footprint to bring quality products and help lakhs of farmers and small merchants.

Jeffrey Chun, CEO Simmtech, South Korea, said that as key supply chain partner in the semiconductor assembly and test facilities expressed excitement for their India project as a co-location investment following their major customer Micron’s project in the state of Gujarat.

Tata Group chairman N Chandrasekaran said that steady and spectacular progress of Gujarat consistently over such a long time clearly demonstrates visionary leadership and the mindset of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He also elaborated on the expansion plan of the group in Gujarat in the areas of EV vehicles, battery production, C295 defence aircrafts and semiconductor fab, advance manufacturing skill building.

DP World chairman Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem said that it is heartening to see the Prime Minister’s vision for a vibrant Gujarat becoming a reality. He credited the government for developing and promoting various industrial clusters such as GIFT City, Dholera Special Investment Region and the Gujarat Maritime Cluster and said that it will act as a gateway to the future.

He said that DP World’s plan to invest and develop state-of-the-art container terminals at Kandla, Gujarat with a capacity of 2 million containers.

Shankar Trivedi, Sr VP Nvidia noting the growing importance of generative AI recalled that PM Modi invited Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia to deliver a lecture to the leaders to senior members of the Indian government and said that “it was the first time that a global leader actually talked about AI.”

Nikhil Kamat, Founder and CEO of Zerodha credited the Prime Minister for facilitating a stable ecosystem allowing startups to thrive.

He remarked that the last 10 years have been incredible as he hailed the country’s startup ecosystem and the rise of small entrepreneurs and ecommerce which was not the case 10 years ago.