Bullet train will improve Gujarat-Mumbai partnership on social level: Gujarat CM

The MumbaiAhmedabad bullet train project will help improve the partnership between Gujarat and Mumbai at the social level Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel said on Wednesday reported news agency PTIGujarat and Mumbai are important pillars of the Indian economy and ongoing infrastructure projects where the two have partnered will help both he saidSpeaking at an investor roadshow ahead of the tenth Vibrant Gujarat summit in Mumbai Patel said while Mumbai is the financial capital of the country Gujarat has become the most preferred investment destinationThe bullet train project will help infrastructure development and economic activities but also improve the partnership on the social level Patel said in comments that come amid some instances showing a lack of warmth between Marathi and Gujaratispeaking communities in the financial capitalRecently workers from the Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena allegedly vandalised Gujarati posters in suburban Ghatkopar which has a sizable Gujaratispeaking populationWhen completed the over Rs 167 lakh crore highspeed rail between Mumbai and Ahmedabad will reduce the travel time to two hours and seven minutesPatel also mentioned the DelhiMumbai Industrial Corridor project 38 per cent of which passes through his state as another project which will benefit companies both in Gujarat and Mumbai by helping with logisticsHe hoped that the upcoming Vibrant Gujarat summit scheduled to be held between January 1012 2024 will strengthen the partnership between Gujarat and MaharashtraThe 20yearold forum started by the state when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was heading the state has become one of the biggest such platforms globally where business can network get knowledge and forge strategic partnerships he saidAfter the public roadshow Patel was scheduled to hold oneonone meetings with Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran UPLs Jai Shroff Prashant Ruia from Essar and Kumar Mangalam Birla among othersSpeaking at the event cigarette maker ITCs chairman and managing director Sanjiv Puri said the company has invested Rs 1000 crore in the state last year including bets on a new hotel and a packaging unit reported PTIReliance Industries group president Dhanraj Nathwani said the conglomerate has invested Rs 4 lakh crore in the state and added that it has plans to invest Rs 5 lakh crore more reported PTIIts plans include a fully integrated endtoend solar PV manufacturing factory battery giga factory and electrolyser manufacturing facility all in Jamnagar he said adding that it is also planning to have 25 compressed biogas units in GujaratThe states chief secretary Raj Kumar said it is now planning for the second phase of the GIFT City which will more than triple the overall size to 1400 hectares from the present 400 hectares reported PTIA modern city by the side of the Sabarmati is planned on the lines of similar projects in San Francisco Hong Kong Singapore and Barcelona he saidHe said the Surat Diamond Bourse will be operational by the end of the year and the Dream City housing is expected to create over 2 lakh jobsThe highspeed rail will be a gamechanger for one of the most vibrant industrial corridors of the country Kumar saidWith inputs from PTI