CM woos investors ahead of Vibrant Gujarat Regional Conference to boost local for vocal initiative

New Delhi, Sep 4 (PTI) Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Thursday said his government's initiative to take the Vibrant Gujarat Summit to regional levels will boost the 'Vocal for Local' initiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

During an interaction with leading industrialists in Delhi, he said that in the run-up to the 2027 Vibrant Gujarat summit, the state government has decided to hold four such regional conferences -- in north Gujarat, central Gujarat, south Gujarat, and Saurashtra and Kutch regions.

Patel said that it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who turned Gujarat into the country's growth engine with his game-changing idea of the Vibrant Gujarat summit in 2003 when he was the chief minister.

Addressing the industrialists, he said, "Thanks to the Vibrant Gujarat Summit started by him (PM), the state has transformed, and you all are witnesses to it. Due to the success of the Vibrant Gujarat summit, the state is one of the most industrialised and urbanised in the country." Patel pointed out that Gujarat's contribution to the country's GDP is now 8.2 per cent, in industrial output it is 18 per cent and in exports it is 27 per cent.

"Prime Minister Modi says it is important that every corner of the country gets developed. In the last two decades of industrial success, we have seen that industrial development is concentrated around the main urban centres. Now we have decided to take the success of Vibrant Gujarat to regional levels," the chief minister said.

He invited industrialists and entrepreneurs to tap into the immense potential of various regions in Gujarat.

"The first Vibrant Gujarat Regional Conference will be held on October 9 and 10 in Mehsana of north Gujarat. Every three months after that, three other conferences will be held in other parts of the state," Patel said.

This will lead up to the state-level vibrant Gujarat summit to be held in January 2027, the chief minister underlined.

Along with 'Vocal for Local', the prime minister has urged everyone to also focus on the concept of 'Local for Global' by taking local products to the world and creating a brand identity for Indian products, Patel said.

"Our effort to hold regional conferences is in line with the prime minister's vision of promoting local products on a global scale," he added.

The 11th edition of Vibrant Gujarat Summit will be held in 2027. The last summit took place in 2024. Ahead of this 2027 summit, the state government will hold four sector-specific regional conferences in four different regions during the next year.

The first conference, for the north region, will be held on October 9 and 10 at Ganpat University campus in Mehsana, an official of the Gujarat government said.

A conference for the Kutch-Saurashtra region will take place in Rajkot in January 2026, followed by similar events for south Gujarat and central Gujarat.

All these conferences will be held as per the Vibrant Summit pattern, and each regional event will have an inaugural event, B2B and B2G meetings, an exhibition, a trade show, sector-specific seminars and inauguration of major projects.

It will also have industrial tours, a reverse buyer-seller meet and an award ceremony, officials said. PTI PD NSD NSD