Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will welcome hundreds of local and global businessmen to his home state of Gujarat this week for a business event, in one of his last big attempts to attract investment before his re-election campaign.
The Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit, held Jan. 10-12, is expected to draw approximately 100,000 visitors, including chief executives, business leaders, ministers, and diplomats from 133 countries, in what organizers have dubbed the largest-ever gathering at the biennial event, which is in its tenth edition.
Foreign corporations taking part include Microsoft, Nasdaq, Alphabet’s Google, Suzuki, and Toyota. Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani, Asia’s two wealthiest individuals, as well as the head of Tata Group, a salt-to-aviation conglomerate, will be among the many top Indian executives in attendance.
Since Modi took office in 2014, foreign investors have made significant investments in India, with companies such as Apple, Samsung, Kia, and Airbus establishing operations. This is despite some CEOs claiming that his protectionist measures in industries such as digital payments, manufacturing, and e-commerce sometimes benefit local enterprises at the expense of international ones.
The conference will provide an opportunity for Modi and Gujarat authorities to recruit investors to areas such as chipmaking and electric vehicle production, where India lags, with the prime minister scheduled to meet with numerous CEOs behind closed doors, according to state officials.
It will be one of Modi’s last major efforts to reassure investors about his pro-business policies and boost India’s image as an investment destination, coming only months before the 2024 national elections, in which he is generally anticipated to win a third term.
U.S. corporations “are factoring in that the current government will come back in power,” said Mukesh Aghi, President of the trade organization U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Forum, which is sending its largest delegation of 50-plus U.S. firms to the Gujarat conference.
“They are quietly de-risking from China, and so India, with its fast-growing economy, becomes important,” he said.
HOTEL ROOMS GET PRICEY
The event will be hosted in Gandhinagar, the state capital, in a vast conference venue run by Leela Palace, Brookfield’s Indian luxury hotel brand. The roads leading to the conference center are being cleaned and renovated, with hoardings featuring Modi’s photographs erected to promote Gujarat as an investment magnet.
Gujarat received around $34 billion in foreign investments between 2019 and 2023, ranking third among states behind Maharashtra, home to the financial center of Mumbai, and Karnataka, whose capital Bengaluru is India’s Silicon Valley.
Hotel rooms are in limited supply and becoming more expensive, just as they were during previous Vibrant Gujarat meetings.
Deeppreet Bindra, general manager of a Marriott International hotel in Ahmedabad, which is roughly 30 kilometers from Gandhinagar and will host many of the summit attendees, claimed his daily room rates had risen to $420 per night, up from $150 per day before.
Visitors will, however, have to avoid alcohol to a considerable extent since the state is one of the few in India that limits public liquor sales unless special government permissions are secured, which has often irritated executives working in the area.
Ahead of the event, Gujarat inked $120 billion in initial investment agreements with over 200 firms, including ArcelorMittal’s local joint venture.
“We have mainly focused on traditional industries so far, but now we are also focusing on upcoming sectors such as semiconductors, electronics, and EVs,” said Rahul Gupta of the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation.
