Is Narendra Modi's Gujarat Really Vibrant?
By siliconindia   |   Tuesday, 11 October 2011, 23:13 IST   |    15 Comments
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On the investment front too, the actual story is quite different. In 2005 claims for Rs 106161 crore had been made for investment. Out of that, Rs 74019 crore (63percent) was made as stated by Chief Minister, but the truth is quite different. According to the information procured under RTI, only Rs 24998 crore (23.52percent) projects were under implementation. Similarly in 2007, Modi Government claimed to have mobilized capital investments of Rs 451835 crore. The State Government claimed to have made an investment of Rs 264575 crore but as per the figures of Industry Commissioner of Gujarat, only projects worth Rs 122400.66 crore (27.08percent) were under implementation. All in all, in 2003, 2005 and 2007, only 20.28percent of projects were implemented in Gujarat. Gujarat being the number one destination for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is also proving to be a myth. In the Reserve Bank India's (RBI) 2011 10-year report on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), FDI inMaharashtra was worth Rs 17 lakh crore, in Delhi, Haryana and NCR (including some parts of UP) it was worth Rs 10 lakh crore, but in Gujarat in the last 10 years, it was just Rs 2.8 lakh crore. Moreover, Gujarat also lags behind in social development index. Reserve Bank of India in its February 2007 report placed Gujarat as 17th among 18 large states in social sector budget allocation. With 31.6 per cent budgetary expenditure on social sector, Gujarat dropped from 12th spot in 1991(then there were 15 large states category) to 17th of the 18 large states list, as expenditure on social sector fell considerably during Modi's regime. Former President Abdul Kalam had also in the past commented on the need for Gujarat to focus more on its social development index.

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