Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani at the Vibrant India Summit in Gandhinagar
Mukesh Ambani, India's richest man, said today that his Reliance is proud to be a Gujarati company, as he pledged to invest Rs 100,000 crore in the state.
Speaking at the Vibrant Gujarat Summit in Gandhinagar, Mr Ambani also said, "I request every investor to follow our steps, invest in Gujarat and benefit themselves," adding, "we have invested in Gujarat time and again to convert a business vision into reality."
Mr Ambani was among over 50 business titans and CEOs from India and abroad attending the mega meet being held at Gandhinagar's swank Mahatama Mandir. Also at the meet were Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who as the state's chief minister had started the Vibrant Gujarat Summit in 2003, US Secretary of State John Kerry, UN chief Ban
Ki-moon and World Bank chief Jim Yong Kim.
"Each Vibrant Gujarat Summit has been a bigger success than the previous one. I've been fortunate enough to attend each one of them," said Mr Ambani.
India's top industrialist also said in his speech that PM Modi's 'Make in India' and 'Digital India' programmes have energised India.
The PM had launched the 'Make in India' campaign in September last to fire up a manufacturing sector which lags behind China. In his speech today, he again made a strong pitch for manufacturing to boost economic growth and create jobs and promised to make India the "easiest" destination to do business with a stable tax regime and a transparent and fair policy environment.
The US and seven other countries including Canada and Japan are for the first time official partner countries at the summit.