Modi unfolds tricolour plans for Gujarat at PBD

Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi on Sunday skipped the topic of the construction of the 'iconic' Mahatma Mandhir building in Gandinagar, which was highlighted at the end of the copy of the speech distributed to delegates at Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2011.

The limited amount of time given to each speaker at the conclave of chief ministers at the concluding day of PBD 2011 could have been the reason.

Nevertheless, in the limited time that Narendra Modi spoke for, he did not fail to praise the United Progressive Alliance government led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for carrying forward the glorious tradition of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas started by Atal Bihari Vajpayee's National Democratic Alliance regime.

The copy of the speech says: "On this occasion, I would like to tell you about Mahatma Mandhir, an iconic building being built in Gandhinagar, in the Swarnim Jayanti year of Gujarat. Mahatma Mandhir is not just a building, it's an epitome of our faith in Gandhiji's principles; it is a symbol of our love for the Father of the Nation, our emotional attachment to the global torch bearer from Gujarat."

However, he did espouse the Mahatma and his principles of 'inclusive growth' that envisaged that any scheme that benefits the grassroots people is a good scheme.

Modi said that "inclusive growth is an ideal, which must be achieved. There cannot be any dispute with either the letter of spirit of the definition of inclusive growth," which he said is "growth by which everyone benefits."

Speaking about Gujarat's economic development, he said that the state's GDP growth at 11 per cent has upended China's in recent years. "The agriculture sector growing at 9.6 per cent for a decade (but the written speech says in the last 7 years) in a drought prone and water scarce state like Gujarat is one of the greatest achievements," he said.

The national average growth rate in the agriculture sector stands at 3 per cent.

He said that his state wants to reflect all the three colours of the national flag in the land of Gujarat. While the white revolution that began in Gujarat as a co-operative movement, the green revolution was represented by the handsome growth in the agriculture sector, he said.

Narendra Modi stated that his state now exports milk to European nations and Singapore. Milk production has increased by 66 per cent in the state in the last decade ever since Narendra Modi became the CM of Gujarat.

"The saffron revolution that I mentioned earlier refers to the initiative that the state has taken in the field of energy sector," he said.

Recently, the state has laid the foundation of a 500 MW Solar Park, the largest in Asia in North Gujarat on 1,000 acres of wasteland. "Our goal is to become the world leader in solar energy," says the speech about the ambitions of the state government.

All the three revolutions, the Gujarat CM said, has the benefit of the people at the grassroots in the mind so that they not only hear about inclusive growth but actually experience the benefit of that inclusive growth.

Among other things, the speech also highlights the following about Gujarat's economic development:

• Industrial growth at 13 per cent

• Agriculture growth at 12.8 per cent in last 5 years and at 9.6 per cent in last 7 years

• Growth in increase in the per capita income of the state at 13.8 per cent

• Gujarat's contribution to exports at 22 per cent and 30 per cent of the stock market capitalisation