Growth engine continues: Gujarat remains the fastest-growing state with a compound annual growth rate of 15 per cent, higher than rest of India in the decade from 2002-03 to 2022-23, as per the state government.

The government added that strong economic fundamentals of the state have led to Gujarat being recognised as the 'growth engine of India' for a long time now.

Notably, the summit was started by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was earlier the Chief Minister for Gujarat for three terms.

“It was our intention that the state should become the growth engine of the country's progress. With only 6 per cent of India's land mass and 5 per cent of its population, Gujarat has achieved the distinction of being one of the most industrially developed states," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said recently.

The 20th Vibrant Gujarat Summit

The latest edition of the global summit in January is expected to accelerate development in Gujarat, and strengthen the fundamentals of the state as well as national economy.

The 10th edition of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit (VGGS) will be held between January 10 and 12 in Gandhinagar, the state capital.

Gujarat contributes around 8 per cent of India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at Rs 22.61 lakh crore, as per government data.

Gujarat's Economic Play

Economist Hemant Shah, based in Gujarat, said: "Gujarat's GDP growth rate was higher than the GDP growth rate of India. Although the GDP growth rate of other states went up over the years, our economic growth rate remained higher than other states. This was one of the reasons why business houses look towards Gujarat for investment."

The manufacturing sector contributes around 36.7 per cent in Gujarat's GSDP, as per official data for the 2021-22 financial year.

Sachin K Patel, Executive Committee member of Gujarat Chamber of Commerce & Industry (GCCI) said business-friendly policies of the Gujarat government gave a boost to the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector.

"MSME is the backbone of our country and it gives the maximum amount of employment in the country…(including) Gujarat. Thanks to the business-friendly policies of the state government, more and more MSME units are being set up in the state," he said.

Impact on Gujarat's People

This economic growth has had a transformative effect on employment and living standards of workers, a government release said.

Gujarat had a Labour Force Participation Rate of 44.3 per cent, Worker Population Ratio (WPR) of 43.3 per cent for all age groups and unemployment rate of 2.2 per cent, the lowest among the major industrialised states, as per the annual report of the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) conducted between 2020-21.

Not just Gujarat, people from outside the state are also getting employment opportunities here, Jagdish Chaudhary, a ceramic factory worker said.

The government has made substantial changes to the social lives of people, especially in education and health.

Health First

Primary health centres (PHCs) and community health centres (CHCs) in Gujarat registered a growth of 41 per cent and 37 per cent, respectively in the decade-long period of 2001-02 to 2021-22.

About 319 CHCs, 1463 PHCs and 6575 sub-centres in all were functioning in the state by November 2022, the government release said.

There are over 30 medical colleges functioning in Gujarat today as compared to only nine medical colleges in the state two decades ago.

"The initiative of Cataract-mukt Abhiyan (cataract-free mission) was initiated by our CM Bhupendra Patel. We conducted 8 lakh cataract operations. We identified a total of 19,000 patients who had cataract in both their eyes, we did cataract surgeries which came out to be successful. If we talk about cataract, it is getting well treated in Gujarat," Dr Nilam Patel, additional director of the health department, said.

Advancing Education

The state has made giant strides in the field of education during the two decades. The dropout rate in elementary school has decreased substantially from over 22 per cent in 1999-2000 to about 1 per cent in 2020-21. The dropout rate between standard I and VIII also decreased from about 41 per cent in 1999 to 2000 to 3 per cent in 2020-21.

India's first Vidya Samiksha Kendra (VSK) was set up in 2019, aimed at leveraging data and technology to bring a big leap in learning outcomes.

PM Modi visited the facility in Gandhinagar in April 2022 and asked other states to study and replicate Gujarat's VSK model to holistically develop education.

VSK has been deemed a Global Best Practice by the World Bank.