Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi has claimed that his state has the best double digit growth in India.
Addressing the plenary session on the second day of the Pravasi Bhartiya Divas at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi on Monday, Modi complained that he had been allotted only a short duration to brief NRIs about Gujarat's developments in various spheres of life.Modi highlighted the fact that Gujarat was the only state in the country, which has been supplying uninterrupted electricity to the villages as well.
"Electricity supply for 24 hours is not available even in metro cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata. In Gujarat we have uninterrupted power supply not just to all our cities but to 18,000 villages," Modi said amidst thunderous applause from the audience.
He elaborated on how his government had turned around sick public sector corporations like Gujarat Electric Company and Gujarati Fertilizers Corporation which had been incurring the losses of Rs 2100 crore (Rs 21 billion) and Rs 900 crore (Rs 9 billion) respectively in each year are now making profits.
"This year Gujarat Electric Company would be making a profit of Rs 300 crore (Rs 3 billion) and this was done without any privatisation with some changes in the management," he said.
Modi emphasised that in order to achieve a growth rate of 8.2 per cent at the national level, Gujarat has to achieve a target of 10.2 per cent. "We have gone much beyond that. Gujarat is the only state in Asia which has a double digit growth," he said.
The gujarat government is holding a special session for the Gujarati NRIs on January 12-13 to explore the possibility of more investment in the state.