Anil Ambani, Sunil Mittal bat for Modi as Prime Minister of India

It is worth noting that I was the first person who actually carried on a poll last month in this direction on my blog:www.sumanspeaks.blogspot.com and the results of that poll (voting) were stunningly similar, to what these corporate honchos are saying now.....The results are still there in my blog:SumanSpeaks (the web-site address is given above).

Corporate honchos Anil Ambani and Sunil Bharti Mittal have showered high praise on Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and termed his leadership as 'national level' material.
Meanwhile, Modi announced that 8,500 MoUs, with proposed investments of over Rs 12-lakh crore (Rs 12 trillion), were inked during the two-day Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors' Summit.

He also said the next summit will be held on January 12-13, 2011.

Speaking at the valedictory session of the Fourth Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors Summit, Ambani said, "Narendrabhai has done good for Gujarat and what will happen if he leads the nation."

"Gujarat has seen progress in all the fields under his leadership. Now, imagine what will happen to the nation if he leads the nation," he said and added, "Person like him should be the next leader of the country."

Recalling his father, the late Dhirubhai, Anil said that Dhirubhai used to say "Modi lambi race ka ghoda hai (Modi will go a long way)."

Similarly, Bharti chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal also lavished high praise on Modi and his leadership. "Modi has a charismatic personality and this has attracted many companies to Gujarat."

"I have had the opportunity to observe him closely during work and I must say that we run only companies and earn money but if there is one person who can run not only a company, a sector, but a whole nation as a CEO, it's Narendra Modi."

Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata has always held that Gujarat is an ideal place to invest in for entrepreneurs because of the industrial, entrepreneurial and political climate in the state.

In just two days of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors' Summit, the state managed to get investment commitments worth Rs 12 lakh crore.

The Tata Group has already invested heavily in the state and with its Nano car plant coming up at Sanand, the industrial powerhouse is poised to create thousands of jobs in the state as well.

The sectors which attracted major investments in Gujarat during the mega event included energy (Rs 3.82 lakh crore), urban development (Rs 1.02 lakh crore), chemicals and petrochemicals (Rs 57,000 crore).

On the last day of VGGIS, MoUs were inked in the sectors like chemicals and petrochemicals, agri-business, food processing, textiles, environment, social sector, urban development, auto, engineering and small and medium enterprises.

Apart from the many Indian companies, a lot of foreign companies too have evinced interest in investing in Gujarat. The big ones among these are from Japan and Korea.

Meanwhile Sri Lanka and Gujarat government have signed a memorandum of understanding and will form a working group to promote tourism, Sri Lankan Tourism Minister Milinda Moragoda said in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.

Prime Minister of Kenya, Raila Amolo Odinga, who was in Gujarat to attend the summit, too was keen to invest in the state.

Which is the best Indian state to invest in?

The Pravasi Bharatiya Divas event in Chennai provided a great platform to various states' chief ministers and other ministers to aggressively market the benefits of investing in their states. And politicians of all hues and shades used this platform well to pitch for investments from Non-Resident Indians at the PBD.

Let us now listen to what some of the prospective investors have to say on these states.

1. Neeraj Bakshi from San Jose, US

'Gujarat is No. 1!'

I am from Mumbai and I feel the best place to invest in -- the place with the perfect investment climate -- is Gujarat. Like any other individual, I look for my personal and business safety, and I see that in Gujarat.

My field of interest is insurance. With personal disposable income rising in Gujarat, I see Gujarat as number one in terms of insurance in the years to come. Beyond that, what impressed me was the announcement of the chief minister (Narendra Modi) about setting up a financial industry centre.

A financial industry centre is not an easy thing to do. He needs people with expertise, knowledge, know-how and infrastructure. He has collected that and he wants to utilise the Gujarati ingenuity in the areas of finance.

Modi is one chief minister whom you can walk up to and talk to. I like a person who carries himself without the trappings of power. He is a person on the move and his walk and stride tell me that.

He connects on the eye contact level and deals with that. This chief minister has brought about a sense of purpose and that is the difference I see.

Other states want to do all that Gujarat does or wants to do, but they are not as focussed as Gujarat is. Image: Neeraj Bakshi from San Jose, California, USA.

2. Dr Anirudh from Chicago

'Kerala tops in quality of life!'
I am originally from Kerala and for me the best state to invest in is the place where the quality of life is the best.

That is the first part of my answer to the question: which state is investor friendly? It is true that a lot of positive changes have taken place in various states, including Kerala. The positive change in Kerala is a permanent aspect of the quality of life which includes the way investors are treated.

All the chief ministers and the concerned ministers of various states, including Kerala, presented how their respective states have progressed. We were comparing each state and I think the only state that could come and say that we are progressing along with improving the quality of life of the people. . . that is only Kerala.

The old style has drastically changed and Kerala is investor-friendly now. I used to be a university professor and now I am an entrepreneur. I plan to start something connected with food processing.

I can go to any other part of India and run a business and make money. I have gone to almost all the states but from Kerala, I get more happiness and satisfaction. I get emotional satisfaction also by investing in Kerala. I am not giving anything back to my home state, as I feel I will only get something from there. I grew up in Kerala, and when I come back to India, I am taking more from place. So, the idea of giving back does not come to my mind at all.

3. C K Patel, President of the Indian Federation of Associations, US

'Gujarat govt cares!'

I am from Gujarat and I have first-hand experience in investing in Gujarat. I also have a lot of real estate investment in the United States. I am the first Indian to build, own and operate a full service Hilton Resort in Los Angeles.

I started investing in Gujarat in 1991 in real estate. Why Gujarat? The most important factor is you earn a lot more returns on your investment, and the growth of my investment is more rapid.

It is all because the government is very transparent and it cares. If you have any issue, you can solve the problems. It is a friendly government. Corruption is under control; I wouldn't say it's completely gone. As a chief minister, he (Modi) is very straightforward and pro-active.

As I have interacted with many delegations, I feel a politician must be sincere. Many politicians say one thing and do something else. I would have invested in any other state, if they had provided better atmosphere than Gujarat.

Modi runs the state more professionally, like a business. He can be called the CEO of Gujarat. He has control of all the other departments.

I am sure Gujarat will become a model for development.

4. Mugundan, from Malaysia

'I would invest in Tamil Nadu'

I am a lawyer in Malaysia and I am here because my father has been awarded the Samman at the Pravasi Divas. If I were to invest, I will probably invest in Tamil Nadu or in the south as I am a Tamil.

I know it would be more convenient to invest here and I know the language. I have got people in an ancestral village if I needed someone to run my business. We have to look at such considerations also other than liberal policies.

In Malaysia, we read only about the southern part of India, and of course about West Bengal. I do not know much about the northern part of India. So, I will be hard pressed to invest in say Haryana or Gujarat as I do not know the language or culture of that area.

I am a Malaysian of Tamil origin and the impression that I got in the last few days is that if you want to come and invest in this country, you have to bear with disruptions and strikes. For the last few days, you have the lorry strike. How investor friendly is that? Sometimes, you have an investor friendly government but if the unions cannot be controlled, what will you do? But my father is going to invest in Tamil Nadu.

5. Dheerajlal Mulji Samat Shah from Kenya

'Invest in Bihar!'

I was born in Kenya but my forefathers are from Saurashtra, Gujarat. I worked with the government first and then I was a businessman and now I am a social worker. I want to devote all my time to the welfare of Indians.

I feel that (Gujarat chief minister) Narendra Modi's leadership is extraordinary. I understand that Gujarat is getting developed in an extraordinary way under him but we should look at investment from another angle.

But if I were to invest in a state, I will invest in Bihar because there are more poor and backward people there. Bihar is a backward, but an unexplored state. So, that should be the target of all investors. There are more opportunities and potential.

I think that should be the motto of a Person of Indian Origin. I don't look at each state separately. For me, India is one entity and I want to see that every Indian gets a job and every Indian is hunger free.

6. Jagdish Lodhia, President, GOPIO, Australia

'Gujarat it is!

My forefathers come from a village in Gujarat. There was a time Gujarat was the only state that was pro-active but now I find that most of the states in India are very competitive, and doing what Gujarat has been doing all along.

If somebody wants to invest in this country, he would be doing it with a mind to export to other countries and nor for the domestic market alone. Though we are people of Indian origin, our market is still overseas.

When we look at the international market, we would need infrastructure like cargo shipping, etc. Gujarat is heading towards achieving a good port. Once they achieve that, no state will be able to beat Gujarat. In the case of Noida, that is the problem we face.

I have invested in properties in Gujarat, and have been into manufacturing for the last ten years. I am also into jewellery business which we started recently. The problem that we face is, people. The way they work is not similar to how we work there. It becomes very difficult to deal with people. In our absence, everything goes slow.

All the chief ministers are working hard these days to make their states competitive. I find a lot of difference in the way the state functions after Narendra Modi took over.

He has made the state more attractive as he understands the international market better and he is accessible unlike many others. If we have a complaint, he makes sure that it goes right. That is the basic difference. More than anything, he is a man who is loved by people and also feared by people.

To all the investors, I would say India is the country and Gujarat is the state to invest in.

7. Paul Pornthep SriNarula, Bangkok

'I would choose Delhi'

This is my fourth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas. I enjoy networking with fellow Indians. My ancestors had been living in Thailand for the last 110 years. My grandfather is from Gujranwala, which is now a part of Pakistan. My forefathers migrated to Thailand much, much before partition took place.

I am in the real estate business and also in the hospitality and tourism sectors. I have a service apartment right in the heart of Bangkok called Omni Tower.

Now I am looking into establishing serviced apartments in India. It will be in Delhi or somewhere around Delhi. It is a new concept in Delhi and I am told there are a few service apartments in Mumbai.

I would choose Delhi because many of my relatives are in and around Delhi, and I am also more familiar with the place.

They pledge to invest billions in Gujarat

Investors from various parts of the country have pledged several crores (billions) of investment across different industrial sectors in Gujarat during the Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors' Summit (VGGIS) 2009, which commenced ion Ahmedabad on Monday.

Larsen & Toubro has pledged Rs 25,000 crore (Rs 250 billion) investment in the state, its chairman and managing director A M Naik said.

Naik said that they would be signing nine memorandum of understanding (MoU) for projects in the manufacturing sector, road building and one for setting up a 2400-MW power plant in Gujarat.

The State Bank of India would be investing Rs 30,000 crore (Rs 300 billion) over the next three years in Gujarat, its chairman O P Bhatt said at the event.

He also said that they would be inking three MoU during the VGGIS and added the 45 new branches of SBI would be opened in different parts of Gujarat over the next three years.

Oil and Natural Gas Corp director-HR A K Balyan pledged Rs 30,000 crore (Rs 300 billion) investment in Gujarat, of which Rs 17,500 crore (Rs 175 billion) would be for development of the Dahej Special Economic Zone.

Chairman and Managing Director of Suzlon Energy, Tulsi Tanti said that the company would be investing Rs 9,000 crore (Rs 90 billion) for setting up of a 1,500-MW wind farm in Gujarat.

Bharat Forge would be investing Rs 7,000 crore (Rs 70 billion) for setting up a power plant and metallurgical equipment manufacturing unit in the state, said its chairman B N Kalyani.

They will be signing two MoUs in this regard during the VGGIS, later in the day, Kalyani added.

Sterling Biotech Ltd's chairman Nitin Sandesra said they would be investing Rs 21,000 crore (Rs 210 billion) in Gujarat, which would include Rs 6,000 crore (Rs 60 billion) investment in SEZ.

Wellspun Group would be investing Rs 4,500 crore (Rs 45 billion) in Gujarat over the next few years, its chairman V K Goenka said during the VGGIS.

They would be signing three MoUs in this regard, and added that the investment would include setting up of a 100-MW solar power plant and expansion of its existing units in the state, Goenka said.

Air Deccan's chairman Captain Gopinath too announced that a logistic centre would be set up in Ahmedabad for Rs 3,000 crore (Rs 30 billion).

The MoU in this regard would be signed during the VGGIS, he added.

Tata group would be investing Rs 21,000 crore (Rs 210 billion) over the next three years in the state of Gujarat, Ratan Tata Group Chairman said at the VGGIS.

Essar would be investing Rs 24,000 crore (Rs 240 billion) in petroleum, chemical, port and jetty project, its Chairman Shashi Ruia said during the global summit.

Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman of the Aditya Birla Group, announced that it would be investing Rs 20,000 crore (Rs 200 billion) in various sectors over the next few years.

The investment would be in cement, fibre, copper and mobile services in the state, and MoUs for this would be signed during the VGGIS, Birla said.

Videocon would be investing Rs 12,000 crore (Rs 120 billion) in the state, company's CMD R N Dhoot said during the Global Investor Summit which has attracted delegates from over 37 countries from across the world.

Gujarat-based Adani Group would be signing MoUs worth Rs 27,000 crore (Rs 270 billion) which would include setting up of a 2000 MW power plant in Mundra, Kutch, and some other projects, the companies chairman Gautam Adani said.

SRF Limited chairman, Arun Bharatram announced that they will be setting up a speciality chemical plants in Gujarat and for that they will be investing Rs 3,000 crore (Rs 30 billion).
The Cellular Operators Association would be signing MoUs worth Rs 20,000 core during the VGGIS, which will be invested by the members of the association over a period of time, Asim Ghosh said on behalf of COA members.

Global IT wiz Sabeer Bhatia of Hotmail fame has announced setting up of a IT city for development of nanotechnology in Gujarat. The amount of investment will be announced later in the day.