A short trip of high level business delegation to Russia under the leadership of Chief Minister Shri Narendrabhai Modi was very successful. Highly impressed by the reputation earned by Gujarat in the area of Energy research and development within a short span of time, the leading oil and gas companies of Russia have expressed keen interest in Gujarat’s petro sector. The Fruitful deliberations have opened up new vistas of Gujarat-Russia partnership.

Chief Minister Shri Narendra Modi paid a two days visit to Moscow to participate in the International Energy Week and address the 4^th International Energy Week and 9^th Russian Oil and Gas Week conference where he was invited to deliver a Key Note address. The event was organized by the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation and Chamber of Commerce, Moscow.

He was accompanied by a Gujarat High Level Business Delegation consisting of Senior Govt. Officials and leaders of Oil & Gas Industry in India and Gujarat. The Delegation included:

Mr. Sudhir Mehta, Chairman, Torrent Group ,Mr. Pranav Adani, MD, Adani Wilmar Group, Mr. Nitin Shukla, CEO, Shell, Hazira, Mr. Hari Bharatiya, Jubilant, Mr. Nikhil Merchant, Chairman, Swan Group, Mr. Jayesh Buch, Executive Director, Essar Group, Mr. D. Rajagopalan, Chief Secretary, Mr. S. Jagadeesan, Principal Secretary, Energy & Petrochemicals Department, Mr.DJ Pandian, IAS, Managing Director, GSPC.

In his address Chief Minister complimented Russia for the assistance rendered in the initial phase of Oil and Gas exploration in India and also acknowledged the support of Russia to India in its Good and Bad times. He emphasized the need for Russia and Gujarat to work closely for addressing the issue of optimum exploitation of Oil & Gas Resources and achieving greater Energy Efficiency.

He added that with the setting up of two large scale grass root Petroleum Refineries and two LNG Terminals Gujarat has become one of the major Oil and Gas consuming Region of India and with its initiatives in Oil/Gas Exploration and establishing Gas Transmission and Distribution Pipeline Network, Gujarat has emerged as the Petro Capital of India. In the context of these significant developments of Petroleum and Gas related infrastructure and the State Government taking proactive measures for further developments, Shri.Modi asked Russian Companies should consider to take full advantage of the emerging Gas Market of Gujarat and India.

On his part Shri Modi offered that Gujarat Government’s petroleum sector flagship company viz. Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation Ltd. would be willing to work with the Oil and Gas majors of Russia like Gasprom, Systema, STG etc.

In the context of Global Warming Shri. Narendra Modi briefed the initiatives taken by the Govt. of Gujarat to address the concern of the Climate Change by creating a separate department for giving a big boost to the usage of Green Energy sources like solar energy, wind energy, bio-mass, geo thermal energy and tidal energy sources. He also emphasized the need for adopting Energy Efficient technologies as a well designed strategy to mitigate the problem of Global Warming and advocated use of Energy Saving Devices.

The Minister of Energy of Russian Federation, Mr.Sergey Shmatko, inaugurated the conference and Mr. Charles Henry, Member of Parliament in UK and Dy.Chairman of Gasprom, Mr. Jerome Ferrier, Vice Chairman of International Gas Union also addressed the Conference. The conference was attended by the CEOs of Global Oil and Gas companies and World Leaders involved in policy making in the Energy Sector.

Joint Meeting with Russin Oil & Gas Companies

In the evening the Chief Minister addressed the CEOs and Senior Executives of leading Oil and Gas Companies in an exclusive meeting organized by the Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation. He emphasized the enormous growth witnessed in the Agriculture sector due to the joint efforts of the Government and the farmers. He drew the attention of the participants to the unique advantages Gujarat offers in terms of Quality Infrastructure, harmonious labour relationship and proactive good governance with the motto of “Less Government and More Governance”. He added that Gujarat is now leading the Indian Economy with a Second Green Revolution and has a much greater role in the Petroleum Sector due to the Refining and LNG infrastructure already created and functioning in the State on a Global Scale.

His address was followed by an audio visual presentation on “Advantage Gujarat” in Russian Language. The efforts of the Hon. CM in presenting his points in Russian Language was highly appreciated by the Russian Businessmen.

In the interactive session the investors sought clarifications on investment opportunities in specific projects and the advantages of Gujarat over other States of India. Responding to the queries, CM explained the relative advantages of Gujarat like World Class Infrastructure, Highest Growth Rate, Innovative Education Facilities making skilled manpower available, improvement in Human Index, and proactive good governance as the factors which no investor can afford to ignore for quick fructification of his investment.

The Indian Ambassador also addressed the gathering.

CM thanked the CEOs in Russian Language by saying “Pasiba” (Thanks)

Among those present in this meeting included CEOs/Sr. Executives of leading Oil and Gas companies of Russia and the rest of the world like Gazprom, Stryt Trans Gas, Royal Dutch Shell, Mc Dermott, Slumber GE, Holly Burton, Sistema etc.

One to one meetings

The Delegation led by Hon. CM held one to one meetings with major oil & gas companies like Gasprom, Sistema, Stry Trans Gas, Itera.

During discussions with Chairman/CEOs of these companies, the possible areas/projects for joint collaboration / partnerships were identified and the roadmap were finalized. These included alliance for EPC contracts, supply of LNG and innovative project of expanding capability of GSWAN and setting up a Sim Card Mfg. unit in Gujarat. Representatives of Gazprom, Sistema and Itera indicated they will soon visit Gujarat to further carry forward the areas / projects identified. Technical support for the Pandit Dindayal Petroleum University was also discussed with the Gazprom and others.The Executive Chairman of Gazprom Mr.Alexander Medvedev called on the Chief Minister and showed keen interest for joint development of Oil & Gas Fields in India and shown willingness to partner some of the Oil and Gas Filelds in Russia in JV with GSPC and other oil companies. Besides, he promised to extend the technical support to the Pandit Dindayal Petroleum University.

Warm Reception by Indian Community

Earlier on arrival in Moscow in the evening of 25^th October, 2009, the Delegation was accorded a warm reception at Indian Embassy organized jointly by the Indian Embassy and Indian Community in Moscow in the evening of 25^th October, 2009. The Indian Ambassador and Gujarat Chief Secretary and Hon. Chie Minister addressed the gathering.

Speaking on the occasion the Chief Minister recalled the warm and cordial relationship existing between the Russian and Indian Governments. And emphasized the need for strengthening the cultural, economic and political ties between Russia and India.

The Chief Minister informed the Indian Community about the steps taken by the Government led by him in the areas of Girls Education, and for overall progress in the physical and social infrastructure including Girls Education and Health Care. He complimented the contributions made by Indians living in Russia.

The civic reception was followed by Indian Classical Dance Performance by Russian Artists.

A get-together with Gujarati Student Community was organized in the afternoon of 27^th October, 2009. While addressing the jubilant students community, Hon. CM gave vivid details of path breaking initiatives taken by his Government for improving the quality of life and human index and inclusive growth.

In the area of Education, he explained the initiatives of the Government for setting up of various universities such as Police University, Forensic University, Teachers University and Children University in Gujarat. He also mentioned about the increase in the number of Engineering and Medical Education seats. He further added that Gujarat Government in partnership with judiciary had introduced evening courts and computerization which in conjunction with the modernization of the police administration, would speedup the disposal of pending cases in judiciary.

On the agricultural front, Mr.Modi mentioned that Gujarat was able to achieve more than 9% growth rate. This was made possible by adopting appropriate agro economic practices such as application of fertilizers based on the actual soil condition, new varieties of seeds and micro irrigation systems. Introduction of Soil Health Card to farmers was also mentioned. The farmers in Gujarat had taken to commercial crops like fruits and vegetables with the main objective of export market.

In order to reduce the infant mortality, the introduction of Chiranjeevi Scheme under PPP(Public Private Partnership) and the Emergency Services of 108 and their benefits were mentioned by CM.

Overall the visit was a great success and fruitful. It resulted in reinforcing and enhancing the vibrant image on Gujarat as a petro capital of India and even at the global level.