Strong relations between Gujarat and Europe

Published By : Admin | November 27, 2013 | 14:19 IST
"Top European economies have met Shri Narendra Modi to discuss stronger ties "
"British HC, German, French, Italian @Swiss Ambassador have met Narendra Modi "
"Demark and Sweden upbeat on strong relations with Gujarat"

Strong relations between Gujarat and Europe

Shri Narendra Modi firmly believes that no progress is complete without engaging and learning from the outside world. Growth is not possible by remaining in a close shell, oblivious to the rapidly changing world around us. Over the last many years, especially in the recent past, numerous European nations have increased their engagement with Gujarat. Being one of India’s most economically vibrant state with a people and investor friendly government, European nations are looking at Gujarat as an attractive destination for opportunities in every sector, be it economic, social or even cultural. In Shri Narendra Modi, they have found a visionary leader who is determined to fulfill the aspirations of the people. Shri Modi’s leadership and his vision for Gujarat’s development have been appreciated as well.

All the leading European economies have active engagement with Gujarat. A historic chapter was written in October 2012 when the British High Commissioner Sir James Bevan called on Shri Narendra Modi in Gandhinagar. In a 50 minute long meeting with Shri Modi, the two of them discussed how to strengthen cooperation between the United Kingdom and Gujarat. Britain is home to a large number of people of Gujarati origin, who migrated there. Sir James Bevan was also present during the 2013 Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit, where he stressed on Britain and Gujarat being natural partners.

British HC Sir James Bevan with Shri Narendra Modi


(British HC Sir James Bevan with Shri Narendra Modi)

Britain’s Minister of State in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Mr. Hugo Swire came to Gujarat and held deliberations with Shri Narendra Modi. Minister Swire was present at the signing of the Long Term LNG Contract between GSPC and British Gas, which is a landmark step in Gujarat’s warm relations with the United Kingdom.

Britain’s Minister Hugo Swire meeting Chief Minister Narendra Modi


(Britain’s Minister Hugo Swire meeting Chief Minister Narendra Modi)

In November 2013 the Italian Ambassador to India Mr. Daniele Mancini led a high-powered business delegation to Gujarat and met Shri Modi. Ambassador Mancini expressed his keenness to strengthen the bond between Italy and Gujarat in the coming years.

Narendra Modi with Ambassador Daniele Mancini


(Narendra Modi with Ambassador Daniele Mancini)

The German Ambassador to India Mr. Michael Steiner called on Shri Modi on 16th November 2013. He discussed an array of issues with Shri Modi.

The German Ambassador Mr. Michael Steiner with Shri Modi in Gandhinagar


(The German Ambassador Mr. Michael Steiner with Shri Modi in Gandhinagar)

Mr. Francois Richier, France’s Ambassador to India met Shri Modi in Gujarat. The Ambassador led a delegation of 14 French companies and discussed strengthening partnership in the fields of urban infrastructure facilities, waste management and energy. The French delegation spent a long time with various authorities of the Gujarat Government during their visit to Gujarat.

Shri Modi meeting France’s Ambassador Mr. Francois Richier


(Shri Modi meeting France’s Ambassador Mr. Francois Richier)

In April 2013 Shri Modi met Switzerland’s Ambassador to India, Mr. Linus Von Castelmur in Gandhinagar. The Ambassador showed great keenness in understand the rapid development in Gujarat over the last decade and Shri Modi spoke about making ties stronger in fields such as skill development, tourism, agro processing, jewelry and watchmaking.

Shri Narendra Modi with Switzerland’s Ambassador to India Mr. Linus Von Castelmur


(Shri Narendra Modi with Switzerland’s Ambassador to India Mr. Linus Von Castelmur)

Among the Scandinavian countries, Denmark’s Ambassador to India Mr. Freddy Svane metShri Modi in June 2013. Mr. Svane also joined the National Seminar on Livestock and Dairy Development at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar. Ambassador Svane expressed keenness for stronger ties with Gujarat in fields such as energy.

Mr. Lars-Olof Lindgren, Ambassador of Sweden to India came to Gujarat with a power packed delegation and during the visit the Swedish Chamber of Commerce and Industry inked a MoU with Gujarat for mutual development.

Sweden’s Ambassador to India meets Shri Modi


(Sweden’s Ambassador to India meets Shri Modi)

Shri Narendra Modi interacted with top lawmakers of Europe via a videoconference on 9th February 2013. The political figures who interacted with Shri Modi are Mr. Joe Leinen (German politician from the SPD and member of the European Parliament who heads the Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety in the Parliament), Mr. Nirj Deva (Member of the European Parliament and politician of Britain’s Conservative Party), Ms. Anne Marie Lizin (the Honorary President of the Belgian Senate) and Mr. Vladislav Yurchik (leader of “Communist of Russia and Deputy of the Russian Parliament, ‘Duma’), Mr. Valery Sargienko (Member of Siberia’s Legislative Assembly and leader of Communist Party).The lawmakers lauded the development journey in Gujarat and congratulated Shri Modi for making the state Vibrant without a trace of corruption.

Besides this, delegations from several European nations are visiting Gujarat and being a part of the state’s journey towards all round development.

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Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi chaired the 50th meeting of PRAGATI - the ICT-enabled multi-modal platform for Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation - earlier today, marking a significant milestone in a decade-long journey of cooperative, outcome-driven governance under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. The milestone underscores how technology-enabled leadership, real-time monitoring and sustained Centre-State collaboration have translated national priorities into measurable outcomes on the ground.

Review undertaken in 50th PRAGATI

During the meeting, Prime Minister reviewed five critical infrastructure projects across sectors, including Road, Railways, Power, Water Resources, and Coal. These projects span 5 States, with a cumulative cost of more than ₹40,000 crore.

During a review of PM SHRI scheme, Prime Minister emphasized that the PM SHRI scheme must become a national benchmark for holistic and future ready school education and said that implementation should be outcome oriented rather than infrastructure centric. He asked all the Chief Secretaries to closely monitor the PM SHRI scheme. He further emphasized that efforts must be made for making PM SHRI schools benchmark for other schools of state government. He also suggested that Senior officers of the government should undertake field visits to evaluate the performance of PM SHRI schools.

On this special occasion, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi described the milestone as a symbol of the deep transformation India has witnessed in the culture of governance over the last decade. Prime Minister underlined that when decisions are timely, coordination is effective, and accountability is fixed, the speed of government functioning naturally increases and its impact becomes visible directly in citizens’ lives.

Genesis of PRAGATI

Recalling the origin of the approach, the Prime Minister said that as Chief Minister of Gujarat he had launched the technology-enabled SWAGAT platform (State Wide Attention on Grievances by Application of Technology) to understand and resolve public grievances with discipline, transparency, and time-bound action.

Building on that experience, after assuming office at the Centre, he expanded the same spirit nationally through PRAGATI bringing large projects, major programmes and grievance redressal onto one integrated platform for review, resolution, and follow-up.

Scale and Impact

Prime Minister noted that over the years the PRAGATI led ecosystem has helped accelerate projects worth more than 85 lakh crore rupees and supported the on-ground implementation of major welfare programmes at scale.

Since 2014, 377 projects have been reviewed under PRAGATI, and across these projects, 2,958 out of 3,162 identified issues - i.e. around 94 percent - have been resolved, significantly reducing delays, cost overruns and coordination failures.

Prime Minister said that as India moves at a faster pace, the relevance of PRAGATI has grown further. He noted that PRAGATI is essential to sustain reform momentum and ensure delivery.

Unlocking Long-Pending Projects

Prime Minister said that since 2014, the government has worked to institutionalise delivery and accountability creating a system where work is pursued with consistent follow-up and completed within timelines and budgets. He said projects that were started earlier but left incomplete or forgotten have been revived and completed in national interest.

Several projects that had remained stalled for decades were completed or decisively unlocked after being taken up under the PRAGATI platform. These include the Bogibeel rail-cum-road bridge in Assam, first conceived in 1997; the Jammu-Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail link, where work began in 1995; the Navi Mumbai International Airport, conceptualised in 1997; the modernisation and expansion of the Bhilai Steel Plant, approved in 2007; and the Gadarwara and LARA Super Thermal Power Projects, sanctioned in 2008 and 2009 respectively. These outcomes demonstrate the impact of sustained high-level monitoring and inter-governmental coordination.

From silos to Team India

Prime Minister pointed out that projects do not fail due to lack of intent alone—many fail due to lack of coordination and silo-based functioning. He said PRAGATI has helped address this by bringing all stakeholders onto one platform, aligned to one shared outcome.

He described PRAGATI as an effective model of cooperative federalism, where the Centre and States work as one team, and ministries and departments look beyond silos to solve problems. Prime Minister said that since its inception, around 500 Secretaries of Government of India and Chief Secretaries of States have participated in PRAGATI meetings. He thanked them for their participation, commitment, and ground-level understanding, which has helped PRAGATI evolve from a review forum into a genuine problem-solving platform.

Prime Minister said that the government has ensured adequate resources for national priorities, with sustained investments across sectors. He called upon every Ministry and State to strengthen the entire chain from planning to execution, minimise delays from tendering to ground delivery.

Reform, Perform, Transform

On the occasion, the Prime Minister shared clear expectations for the next phase, outlining his vision of Reform, Perform and Transform saying “Reform to simplify, Perform to deliver, Transform to impact.”

He said Reform must mean moving from process to solutions, simplifying procedures and making systems more friendly for Ease of Living and Ease of Doing Business.

He said Perform must mean to focus equally on time, cost, and quality. He added that outcome-driven governance has strengthened through PRAGATI and must now go deeper.

He further said that Transform must be measured by what citizens actually feel about timely services, faster grievance resolution, and improved ease of living.

PRAGATI and the journey to Viksit Bharat @ 2047

Prime Minister said Viksit Bharat @ 2047 is both a national resolve and a time-bound target, and PRAGATI is a powerful accelerator to achieve it. He encouraged States to institutionalise similar PRAGATI-like mechanisms especially for the social sector at the level of Chief Secretary.

To take PRAGATI to the next level, Prime Minister emphasised the use of technology in each and every phase of the project life cycle.

Prime Minister concluded by stating that PRAGATI@50 is not merely a milestone it is a commitment. PRAGATI must be strengthened further in the years ahead to ensure faster execution, higher quality, and measurable outcomes for citizens.

Presentation by Cabinet Secretary

On the occasion of the 50th PRAGATI milestone, the Cabinet Secretary made a brief presentation highlighting PRAGATI’s key achievements and outlining how it has reshaped India’s monitoring and coordination ecosystem, strengthening inter-ministerial and Centre-State follow-through, and reinforcing a culture of time-bound closure, which resulted in faster implementation of projects, improved last-mile delivery of Schemes and Programmes and quality resolution of public grievances.