Financial Times lauds decade of development in Gujarat!
One of the world’s leading finance newspapers, Financial Times lauds Gujarat’s development.
FT praises visionary leadership of Shri Narendra Modi
FT article comes after several eminent international media houses, think tanks and intellectuals have applauded Gujarat’s growth
USA Congress think tank report called Shri Modi ‘King of Governance’, Time featured him on their cover page.
Gujarat’s decade of peace, unity and brotherhood has made it the centre of attention among many government bodies, think tanks and eminent media houses. Just recently, Financial Times, a leading global financial newspaper covered Gujarat in their story titled ‘Modi puts Gujarat growth on a fast track’ by James Fontanella- Khan and James Lamont in which they lauded the pace of development in Gujarat.Financial Times describes Gujarat as “India’s most investor- friendly state with a double- digit annual growth rate” adding that many have likened it to China’s industrial province of Guangdong. The report cites a study by ASSOCHAM that states that Gujarat has attracted higher investment in terms of value as compared to any Indian state in the last 5 years. The biennial Vibrant Gujarat summits too have played a major role in this surge of investments.
Along with the impressive growth trajectory, the article also lavishes praise of the leadership in Gujarat. FT has lauded Chief Minister Shri Narendra Modi for presiding over an economic transformation, improving roads and power sectors and even rebranded the image of the state. “Admirers say that he has the instincts of a chief executive with little tolerance for underperformance among his officials” the article opines. This growth story becomes particularly noteworthy because Shri Modi took charge as the Chief Minister in the wake of shrinking economic growth and a severe quake in 2001, a facet FT also recognizes.
The decade of peace and prosperity has set the tone for the people of Gujarat, particularly the youth to dream of an even more vibrant tomorrow. “All we want now is development…Modi provides loads of development” says a youngster in conversation with the authors of the story. A Muslim businessman in Ahmedabad told the authors, “Business is really flourishing…people are slowly forgetting the past.” They also cite a Mumbai based journalist for says that he has met people who “marvel at the efficiency of Gujarat” mainly because “the red tape, the bureaucracy are gone.”
On a larger level, FT writes that the international community is being forced to engage with Gujarat owing to the dynamism and vibrancy that has been engrained among its people in the last decade. FT, however is not the first media house stating this. Two months ago, Time Magazine has Shri Narendra Modi on its cover with a story titled, ‘Modi Means Business.’ Penned by their South Asia bureau Chief Jyoti Thottam, Time noted that the development in Gujarat was such that the entire world had taken notice. They cited several sectorial success stories from power to Gujarat being an auto-hub.
Brookings, USA’s oldest and most reputed think tank praised the decade of growth in Gujarat. William Antholis, its Managing Editor opines that Gujarat is growing faster than most places, even in China. In September 2011, a USA Congressional Think Tank described Shri Modi as the ‘King of Governance’. FT marks the presence of Peter Haas, the Mumbai based USA consul general at the inauguration of Asia’s largest solar part at Charanka where he praised the state government for creating an atmosphere for investment.
These reflections serve as an accurate picture of Gujarat and how it has grown in the last decade, powered by the strength of 6 crore Gujaratis and Shri Narendra Modi’s Mantra of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’ (All Together, Growth for all).
