Reaffirming his firm belief for a growth where both agriculture and industry would have equal share, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday showcased the success his Gujarat model had brought to catapult “our semi desert-like State” to an economic superpower of sorts.
The Chief Minister who was addressing a galaxy of industrialists in a special session organised jointly by Merchant Chamber of Commerce, Bharat Chamber of Commerce and Indian Chamber of Commerce showed how his model had transformed a State — that had once a deficit of `6,700 crore — into a revenue-surplus zone.
Insisting that the power to accomplish the unachievable could work wonders he described how a dry State like Gujarat was breaking new heights in the field of agriculture. “Despite the adversities, we have shown 10 per cent growth in agriculture which has pushed up the purchasing power of the people triggering in the process industrial growth.”
Showing how an economy should stand on three pillars — so that notwithstanding a crack in one of these the other two could hold the economic edifice together — Modi said, “Agriculture, manufacturing and service sector should contribute to one-third each to the economic growth of the country.”
Insisting on the role of technology in agriculture the Chief Minister described how his Government’s efforts had revolutionised farming in Gujarat. “We have introduced micro-irrigational technique on seven lakh hectares of lands in our State. This has resulted in more crops even with less rain,” he said adding how his State was the first to introduce land health cards among the farmers “to let him know about the qualities of his land so that he can sow seeds accordingly.”
In terms of industrialisation, Modi claimed his State was the most sought after destination in the country with most automobile units making a beeline for his State. He added how Gujarat was making revolution in terms of alternative power through solar energy.
“While the Centre has barely managed to generate 100 MW of solar power we are generating 3,000 MW and days are not far when we will go for roof top solar power generation. This will reduce our dependence on the foreign imports of oil” he said attacking the Centre for its faulty coal policy that had led to the closure of power units worth 30000 MW.
Dwelling on the need of value-added economic system and infrastructure development Modi said how he was stressing on system where farming, production and export could be done from a single place. Giving an example of cotton industry he said “we are stressing on a farming-to-fabric-to-factory-to-fashion-to-foreign system” to boost both production and export.
Insisting that India was a huge human resources power house he said efforts should be made by the Centre to train skilled teachers for worldwide consumers as “the world needs millions of teachers and we have as many of youth aspiring to do the job. They only need proper training.”