File photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi
This week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to his home state of Gujarat twice for two huge events. On Sunday, he will inaugurate the Vibrant Gujarat summit, constructed to attract investment.
Here is your 10-point cheat-sheet to the Gujarat summit:
Tomorrow morning, the PM's address will launch the Pravasi Bharati Divas or annual gathering of Indians who live abroad. The event is held to help non-resident Indians re-connect with the country; heads of different states will pitch to them for investment.
On Sunday morning, Mr Modi will inaugurate the Vibrant Gujarat summit, which he started while he was Chief Minister in 2003.
The event was launched after the state had been hit by a massive earthquake in 2001 and communal riots in 2002.
This is the seventh edition of the event, which takes place every two years, drawing the biggest Indian tycoons and diplomats.
The US has for the first time signed on as a partner country for the global investors summit. Secretary of State John Kerry will attend.
According to the state government, foreign entrepreneur attendees will include CEOs of companies like Vodafone and Suzuki.
India Inc has in the past been represented by Mukesh and Anil Ambani and Ratan Tata among others.
Though Vibrant Gujarat has been acclaimed for successfully marketing the state as an industrial powerhouse, the opposition claims that reports of business transacted are highly exaggerated.
In 2011, memorandums of understanding for a staggering 20 lakh crores were signed. In 2013, the government said it had similar agreements of interest for 10 lakh crores.
But the opposition says a third of those actually converted into investment deals. The government claims over 60 percent of the initial agreements moved ahead.
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