GUJARAT PROGRESS UNDER NARENDRA MODI

ACCOMPLISHMENTS............................................................................... 2
QUOTABLE QUOTES .................................................................................................. 2
AWARDS ....................................................................................................................... 4
MEDIA ON ACCOMPLISHMENTS ............................................................................ 6
DEVELOPMENT LANDMARKS................................................................................. 7
ECONOMIC HALLMARKS ....................................................................................... 16
THE MASTER PLAN - PANCHAMRUT PHILOSOPHY ................... 23
1. GYAN SHAKTHI - Emphasising and using the power of knowledge .................... 23
2. URJA SHAKTHI - Making Energy the Power of the State…. .............................. 23
3. JAL SHAKTHI - Harnessing and Management of Water…. .................................. 24
4. JAN SHAKTHI - Empowering the People…. ......................................................... 24
5. RAKSHA SHAKTHI - Enhancing Security : Physical, Social, Economic…......... 24
IMPLEMENTATION ................................................................................ 25
INNOVATIONS IN GOVERNANCE ......................................................................... 25
Swagat Online - State-Wide Attention on Public Grievance by Application of
Technology ............................................................................................................... 25
Power uninterrupted (to 100% villages) - Jyoti Gram.............................................. 26
Deploying Wealth to Ensure Health ......................................................................... 27
Evening Courts.......................................................................................................... 27
FUTURISTIC INITIATIVES....................................................................................... 28
Vibrant Gujarat ......................................................................................................... 28
Educating the Girl Child ........................................................................................... 29
Inculcation of work culture....................................................................................... 30
Agricultural Festival ................................................................................................. 31
Kalpasar Project ........................................................................................................ 32
PROACTIVE GOVERNANCE.................................................................................... 33
E-governance ............................................................................................................ 33
Water For All ............................................................................................................ 34
Second Green Revolution ......................................................................................... 35
Development of The Deprived.................................................................................. 36
Face Lifting Civic Amenities.................................................................................... 37
Knowledge Corridors................................................................................................ 38
INDIA’S GROWTH ENGINE ..................................................................................... 39
Industrial Paradise..................................................................................................... 39
Energy With Synergy................................................................................................ 40
Growth With Discipline............................................................................................ 41
The SEZ Capital Of India ......................................................................................... 42
Infrastructure Par Excellence.................................................................................... 43
CHRONOLOGY OF DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES ............................................. 44
POLITICS – STRONG MAJORITY IN 2001 MADE IT ALL HAPPEN
....................................................................................................................... 48
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
QUOTABLE QUOTES

You are stupid if you are not (investing) here (in Gujarat)” -- Ratan Tata, Chairman,
Tata Group

“It is a matter of great pride, pleasure and satisfaction for me to announce our
intentions to sign in coming years MOU’s worth 70,000 crores (in Gujarat)” --
Mukesh Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Group
NOTE: 105 billion US dollars MOU’s signed in 2007 Vibrant Gujarat
Investors’ summit!!
AWARDS

Over the past five years, Gujarat has made excellent progress on all fronts – and these
efforts have not gone unnoticed. Whether it is rehabilitation of earthquake victims or e-
Governance implementation for transparency; best practices in solid waste management
or environment consciousness – Gujarat has pursued excellence in several areas and
won over 60 accolades and awards all along the way. Not only the number is large, if
one looks at the list of awards, it includes awards and citations for a variety of sectors
right from economic freedom to environmental protection, e-Governance to energy
conservation, health to heritage protection and sanitation to software development,
reflecting holistic development of the state.

The agencies conferring these awards also range widely from International bodies like
the United Nations, World Bank, UNESCO, Commonwealth Association of Public
Administration and Management (CAPAM), and to various Ministries/agencies of
Government of India like Ministry of power, Ministry of non-conventional energy services
and institutions like India Tech Excellence Foundation, Computer Society of India and
Rajiv Gandhi Foundation.

Besides several sector specific awards, Gujarat ranks No. 1 in The Economic
Freedom Index as per the research conducted by The Rajiv Gandhi Foundation.
However the icing on the cake is recognition of Modi as No.1 Chief Minister by the
people, thrice consecutively in five years in India Today-ORG MARG Survey, a
unique recognition ever achieved by any CM in the country. His being adjudged as
the “Person of the year” by the readers of a weekly “Chitralekha,” rating ahead of
Amitabh Bachchan and many others, speaks a lot about his popularity.

A few of the awards bagged for different developmental initiatives/achievements in

Gujarat during the tenure of Modi are:
16-10-2003 UN Sasakawa Award for outstanding work in the field of disaster
management and risk reduction.

Oct-2004 CAPAM Gold Award from Commonwealth Associations for

innovations in governance

27-11-2004 Special Commendation medal (Gold Medal) by India Trade

Promotion Organization for Gujarat's Excellence in Display in the
India International Trade Fair 2004
24-02-2005 Nirmal gram award to a village in Rajkot district in Gujarat by
Government of India for sanitation facilities
25-04-2005 Elitex Award by Department of Information Technology, Govt. of
India Science and Technology Department for "PRAGATI", a GIS
Software developed by Bhaskracharya Institute of Space
Application and Geo-informatics, Government of Gujarat
21-05-2005 Gujarat awarded the status of the Best State after a survey of all
the states in the country, carried out by the Rajiv Gandhi
Foundation, New Delhi.
01-06-2005 UNESCO Asia Pacific Heritage Award for reconstruction of a
Gurudwara damaged during the earthquake

05-08-2005 Best Investment environment Award by India today

05-08-2005 Most Economic Freedom Award by India Today

27-11-2005 Gujarat Pavilion given the first prize in the International Trade
Fair at New Delhi.
14-10-2005 Readers of the Gujarati weekly "Chitralekha" rated Shri Narendra
Modi as "Person of the Year". Tennis star Sania Mirza was
ranked second and superstar Amitabh Bachchan stood third.
Awards were given away on 18-05-2006.
12-11-2005 India Tech Excellence Award by India Tech Foundation for
Power sector reforms and Initiatives
30-01-2006 In a nationwide survey conducted by "India Today", Shri
Narendra Modi was declared the Best Chief Minister of the
country. Best CM
23-03-2006 Nirmal gram award by Government of India to a few villages of
Gujarat for sanitation facilities
31-07-2006 Gujarat again ranks first in the country in "Implementation of 20
point programme".
02-08-2006 Gujarat tops among 35 states of the country in "Sarva Shiksha
Abhiyaan".
12-09-2006 Ahalyabai National Award function, Indore.
30-10-2006 Asian Innovation Award at Singapore from Wall Street Journal
and the Financial Express for Chiranjeevi Yojana (initiative for
reducing maternal and infant mortality rate)
04-11-2006 E-governance award to e-dhara project (computerization of land
 records)
10-01-2007 ELITEX 2007 -Best E-governed State Award from Government of
India
05-02-2007 Adjudged the best CM for the third time in the nationwide survey
conducted by India Today - ORG Marg, a unique achievement for
any Cm during a 5 year tenure Best CM

MEDIA ON ACCOMPLISHMENTS
DEVELOPMENT LANDMARKS

Electricity for 100% of the villages in the state 100% of the time (24 hours)
Gifts received by chief minister donated for education and welfare of the girls
ECONOMIC HALLMARKS
THE MASTER PLAN - PANCHAMRUT PHILOSOPHY
Soon after becoming the Chief Minister of Gujarat in 2001, Narendra Modi came out
with a grand strategy for overall development of the State of Gujarat - "Panchamrut
Yojana" which covers five core areas.

1. GYAN SHAKTHI - Emphasising and using the power of knowledge

• Emphasis on educational infrastructure, training of teachers and computersation of

schools.
• Introducing new courses to meet the demands of time.
• Emphasis on total enrollment and maximum retention of children in the schools.
• Emphasis on girl child education.
• Campaigns in the villages with the mission of universal education.
• Creating special funds for girl child education and insurance schemes for the students.
• Donating gifts received by him for girl child education (Worth more than 3.00 crores).
• 11 new universities, 400 new colleges, 1.25 lakh new teachers, 38,000 new
schoolrooms and doubling the seats for technical courses.
• And a massive reduction in the drop out rate at all primary levels.
• Campaign for imparting English education to Youth

2. URJA SHAKTHI - Making Energy the Power of the State….

• Turning the loss making State Electricity Board into a profit making professionally
managed company.
• Increase in the plant load factor, decrease in T&D losses.
• Venturing into large scale exploration of Oil and Gas.
• Setting up of a 2200 km long State Wide Gas Grid.
• Securing huge deposits of oil and gas in Gujarat, India and abroad.
• Making electricity a common man’s infrastructure in all villages.
• Biggest CNG and LNG infrastructure in the country.
• Turning Gujarat into a gas based economy.
• Gujarat emerging as petro-capital of the country.
3. JAL SHAKTHI - Harnessing and Management of Water…

• Emphasis on harnessing of rain water and scientific management of water.

• Introduction of Micro-Irrigation Techniques.
• Linking the villages with a State Wide Water Grid.
• Interlinking of 21 rivers of the states.
• Near completion of Sardar Sarovar Project with benefits of water and electricity
reaching 500km away from the dam.
• Creation of 2.25 lakh new water bodies by constructing check-dams and farm
ponds.

4. JAN SHAKTHI - Empowering the People….

• Involving people in the process of development.

• Making the Gram Sabha an effective forum for harmony, progress and grievance
redressal.
• Encouraging uncontested elections in Panchayat raj institutions.
• Computerisation of village panchayats and revenue records.
• Celebration of famous festivals to channelise creative energy of the people.
• Organizing women’s self-help groups for economic activities and resolution of cases
through Nari Adalats.

5. RAKSHA SHAKTHI - Enhancing Security : Physical, Social,

Economic…
• Developing the mitigating capacity for natural and man made disasters.
• Making Gujarat Polio free, Leprosy free and reducing the incidence of HIV / AIDS.
• Reducing infant and mother mortality through innovative schemes.
• Creating a Seismological Research Institute.

IMPLEMENTATION
INNOVATIONS IN GOVERNANCE
Swagat Online - State-Wide Attention on Public Grievance by
Application of Technology

Good governance is the key to sustainable development. Modi has been

constantly innovating, aiming at excellence in governance. His understanding of
the importance of technology in effective and efficient delivery of services has
enabled the state to take up many innovative steps for empowering people.

SWAGAT is an innovative concept that enables direct communication between

the citizens and the chief minister. In Gandhinagar, the fourth Thursday of every
month is a SWAGAT day wherein the highest office in administration attends to
the grievances of the man on the street. Grievances are logged in, transmitted
and made available online to the officers concerned who have to reply within 3 to
4 hours. The departments concerned then have to be ready with the replies,
before 3 p.m., when the Chief Minister holds video conferences with all the
districts concerned. Applicants are called one by one and the chief minister
examines each complaint in detail. The information sent by the department is
also reviewed online in the presence of the complainant and the Collector/District
Development Officer/Superintendent of Police and other officials concerned.
Attempts are made to offer a fair and acceptable solution on the same day and
no applicant has ever left without any firm reply to his grievance. The record is
then preserved in the ‘SWAGAT’ database and a separate log is maintained for
each case.

Owing to the innovative use of technology that injects in accountability in the

government machinery, the International institutions such as the Commonwealth
Telecom Organization and University of Manchester have considered SWAGAT
as an excellent model of e-transparency

Power uninterrupted (to 100% villages) - Jyoti Gram

Hailing from a small town Vadnagar, Modi had witnessed frequent load shedding and
power failures during his childhood days. Such power failures not only used to hamper
the studies of children but also affected the economic activities in the semiurban and
rural areas. Modi hence conceived a scheme called Jyoti Gram Yojana to provide 3-
phase, 24-hour, uninterrupted power supply to all the 18,065 villages and also to the
9,680 suburbs attached to these villages.

This single initiative has brought a revolutionary change in the life-pattern and economic
activities of rural Gujarat. This initiative will not only promote development of small scale
industries and generation of additional employment, but will also reduce the migration of
village population to urban areas.

From an earlier power supply situation of 8-14 hours a day, the Jyoti Gram Yojana
through its 24-hour, high quality power has given a tremendous boost to the rural
economy. What is also unique about this initiative is the timebound approach of this
project. Implemented in a record time of 30 months, the Jyoti Gram Yojana has enabled
Gujarat to become the first state in India to achieve 100% electrification of villages.

Households, commercial establishments and educational institutions in these rural areas

are now truly empowered and Jyoti Gram Yojana tends to be a catalyst to give fillip to
many socio-economic and educational revolution.

Gujarat has always managed its power situation very well. The current power generating
capacity of 9700 MW (excluding 4000 MW of captive generation) will be augmented to
15,000 MW in next five years.

Gujarat is also focused on tapping non-conventional energy sources such as Wind and
Tidal power and has also started commercial production of bio-diesel. The state
government has already declared incentive schemes for biogas cogeneration based co-
generation, energy generation through solar photo voltaic cells, geo-thermal sources,
urban solid waste and biomass. Major new generation capacities are being added by
harnessing wind energy, hydro-power as well as through setting up of Gas and lignite
based power plants.
Deploying Wealth to Ensure Health

Improvement in the health and nutritional status of the population has been one of the
major thrust areas of the social development programmes in the state. Over the years,
Gujarat has developed good health infrastructure and human resources. The State has
initiated a wide variety of Public-Private Collaborations, involving NGOs/Private Sector
practitioners. No wonder, Gujarat is now emerging as a global medical tourism
destination. The WHO has appreciated Gujarat’s school health program, under which 10
million primary school children are medically examined every year. The state has
recently initiated a novel scheme involving private gynaecologists in providing services
related to safe delivery of pregnant women primarily from socio-economically weaker
sections. The scheme called the Chiranjeevi Yojana, was launched in December 2005.
The beneficiaries under the scheme are the mothers from poor families. Recently, this
scheme bagged an international recognition in the form of Asian Innovation Award at
Singapore from Wall Street Journal and the Financial Express. Under “Matru Vandana”
private Gynaecologists provide free services to antenatal mothers on 9th day of each
month. Almost 1000 gynaecologists are working as Matru Vandana Doctors.

Evening Courts

The piling up of court cases is a nationwide problem and everybody, from the poorest
man to the highest authority, talks about 'justice delayed is justice denied;' but it is only
Gujarat that came out with an innovative way to improve the situation by starting
Evening Courts since November 2006. The initial response has been overwhelming.
Using the existing infrastructure, 67 such courts have already been made operational
and in a short span of time, 1,16,000 cases have been disposed off. The evening courts
do not imply only additional working hours but also a system which enables the common
man to seek justice without wasting his working hours during the day.

In addition to this, the experiment of Lok Adalat (People’s Court) is also gaining ground.
More than one million cases have been disposed off during the year 2006. Another
innovative approach is the Nari Adalat (Female Court). Women groups have organized
themselves into these informal judicial forums in order to redress the grievances and
cases of women through consultation and negotiation. So far, 19 Nari Adalats have been
set up and are functioning in a very professional manner.

FUTURISTIC INITIATIVES
Vibrant Gujarat

Modi is a man who loves challenges, and right from the day one, he has charted a
definite course for the state’s development. During the last five years, he has
successfully introduced new concepts and institutionalized them.

It was under his leadership that the ‘Vibrant Gujarat’ theme was conceived and the two
Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors’ Summits in 2003 and 2005 together garnered 302
investment proposals to the tune of Rs 1,72,000 crores (USD 38 Billion) – the snowball
effect of which is now being witnessed. What is more significant is the fact that a
mechanism was set in place to monitor these projects for expeditious implementation
and has yielded good results- 84% of these proposals have either been implemented or
are under active implementation process.

Encouraged by the proactive approach of the government and the multidimensional

reforms in all sectors, the global investors today are making a beeline for Gujarat which
has now emerged as one of the most preferred investment destinations, and this was
proved by the resounding success of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors’ Summit 2007
held on 12th and 13th January 2007.
This two-day event which was attended by business tycoons and CEOs of the Indian
and global corporate world resulted in signing of 363 MOUs (Memorandum of
Understanding) and an investment inflow of USD 102 Billion. These investments are
across several sectors and hold a promise of direct employment generation to over 13
lac people.

Today when Modi looks back, he smilingly says, “I do not know how it all happened. It is
perhaps the Almighty that made me perform, with the active support and cooperation of
five crore people of Gujarat.” He further adds, “When your intentions are good, you
always get the support from all the corners.”

Modi is not a complacent man. He is aware that the economy of Gujarat is far ahead of
many economies in South East Asia, and his dream now is to position Gujarat as a state
to be reckoned with the best business hub on the international platform.

Educating the Girl Child

For any revolution, the spirit of revolt and readiness for change are essential and hence
Modi’s emphasis on education, especially female education. Commitment, conviction
and concern distinguish a statesman from a politician. Modi deposits each and every
gift/souvenir received by him in the government treasury (toshakhana) for the cause of
girl child education (kanya kelavani) a special fund Kanya Kelavani Nidhi has been
created for this cause.

Within a span of 41 years, his 13 predecessors had deposited a meagre amount of

Rs.4.55 lacs, whereas the present Chief Minister has deposited Rs.287.37 lacs in a
period of 5 years. He has thus set a new trend of adding to the state exchequer, the
trend that may prove to be a great challenge as well as inspiration for his successors to
follow.

The dedication of a person of the stature of Chief Minister has influenced the society as
a whole. Gradually people were touched by Modi’s commitment for the cause of female
education and in public functions, instead of felicitating him by gifts or souvenirs, they
have started donating cheques for Kanya Kelavani Nidhi. For this benevolent cause,
they have voluntarily handed over more than Rs.11 crores to their beloved leader. This
only vindicates the fact that when the intentions are noble and the commitment total,
support flows from all directions.
Kanya Kelavani Nidhi has been created with a long term goal that no girl child in Gujarat
remains illiterate; and the efforts have started yielding results. In 2006-07, the dropout
rate of girl child has dwindled to 3.68 from 20.81 in 2000-01 (std 1 to 5) and to 11.64
from as high as 36.30 (std 1 to 7).

The dwindling drop-out rates are equally supported by new enrolments through Kanya
kelavani Rath Yatra (girl child enrolment drive), a unique initiative in Gujarat. Since 2003,
every year in the month of June, the Chief Minister along with his team travels to remote
villages to encourage parents to enrol their children in schools. It is a three day long
statewide drive covering all the villages and the urban areas in scorching summer heat.
An atmosphere of festivity and celebration is created. The young children now wait
keenly to get themselves enrolled into schools.

Yet another initiative is Vidyalaxmi scheme, introduced during the last 5 years in villages
where female literacy rate is lower than 35% and in the urban areas for the girls
belonging to the below-poverty-line families. Vidyalaxmi bond of Rs. 1000/- is given to
girl students who take admission to the 1st std and 8th std. The girl receives the amount
of bond with interest on completion of std 7th and 10th respectively. This ensures higher
retention rate.

Kanya kelavani is now a movement in Gujarat addressing the cause in totality. The
initiative from the level of Chief Minister has moved the hearts of the society and state
administration alike. The mood in Gujarat is to set new records; in the area of education
in general and girl-child education in particular.

Inculcation of work culture

Modi believes that technology can alone foster e-Governance and that the good
governance can only happen through efficient, proactive and citizen-friendly system.
That is why, the Government of Gujarat initiated a massive training programme to
reorient over 5,00,000 state government employees and to strengthen the administrative
machinery.

The Karmayogi Maha Abhiyan, (literally meaning a mega campaign of transforming

employees into genuinely real workers), an initiative unique to Gujarat is all about
harnessing the strengths of the government employees and sensitizing them towards
their accountability as the public servants. Self motivation, communication skills,
empathetic response, proactive attitude, cost consciousness, team work – no
government employee ever had a formal training in these essential values of work. It is
only in Gujarat that an effort has been launched to train, on a continuous basis, its
karmacharis (employees) in order to transform them as karmayogis committed to work.

The Karmayogi Maha Abhiyan consists of Chintan Shibirs (reflection workshops for
profound thinking) as well as V-Governance. Chintan Shibirs are annual retreats for the
ministers and the senior government officials for brainstorming, progress review, goal
setting and developing a collective vision; while V-Governance is a unique training
initiative for Vibrant Governance through ‘change in mindset’. Till date 4 Chintan Shibirs
have been held and lacs of officers/employees have undergone the V-Governance
training. In addition to the government officials, over 2.5 lac teachers too have
undergone the karmayogi training.

Today, the Government of Gujarat has a formidable team of Karmayogis – trained for
positive attitude, cost consciousness, citizen friendliness – a team that has transformed
to ‘a-sarkari’ (non governmental) mode of functioning to become “asarkari” (effective).

Agricultural Festival

Yet another initiative unique to Gujarat is the Krishi Mahotsav. The Agricultural Festival
is a knowledge sharing rendezvous of the farming community, a month-long event that
brings together the farming community, the government officials, the scientists and many
more connected with agriculture.

What is unique about this event is that it facilitates seamless flow of knowledge from the
agricultural research labs to the land. Besides practical demonstrations of modern
agricultural methods and tools and guidance queries are answered and problems
solved, the festive mood grips millions of farmers as the Krishi Raths travel through
thousands of villages. Not caring for heat and dust the cabinet ministers, officials and
hundreds of dedicated workers travel to remote villages to facilitate the process of
knowledge sharing; over 227 Kisan Raths (mobile exhibitions) drive through all the
villages of Gujarat to celebrate this festival of productivity.

Year after year the Krishi Mahotsav has been improving considerably productivity
through knowledge sharing and orientation of farmers towards value added agriculture,
modern marketing methods, organic farming as well new technologies.
A snapshot of Krishi Mahotsav 2006

Guidance by agricultural scientists to 14,50,655 farmers

Personal counselling to 6,74,416 farmers
Guidance by APMC to 1,66,615 farmers.
Distribution of 1,42,711 Agriculture Kits
Distribution of 1,36,773 Horticulture Kits
Distribution of 1,00,000 Animal Husbandry Kits
Distribution of 98,827 Kisan Credit Cards
Implementation of All-Village Employment Scheme in 10,172 villages.
Creation of 11,123 self help groups
Vaccination of 48.8 Lac cattle
E-Grams status to 6074 villages
Agricultural sowing organized in 18,719 villages

Kalpasar Project

Kalpasar Project
A lake that fulfils wishes

Modi has also embarked upon an ambitious project termed Kalpasar - which literally
means A Lake That Fulfils Wishes.

Estimated to cost about Rs.54,000 crore, this project envisages the construction of a
dam of 64 km across the Gulf of Khambhat, joining Ghogha on the west coast and
Hansot on the east coast of the Gulf, forming a water basin of more than 2,000 sq km.

Through a 660-km canal system, 1.05 million hectares of land in coastal Saurashtra will
be irrigated. The water will be available for domestic agricultural and industrial uses. In
addition, the project is expected to generate 5,880 MW of tidal power. The project will
have the potential to completely change the economic profile of the state.
PROACTIVE GOVERNANCE
E-governance

Modi believes in using the latest advancements in the technological field for the well
being of the masses.

Gujarat has the largest optical fibre wide area network in the whole of Asia, stretching
over as long as 50,000 km. This provides him and other Government functionaries a
platform to interact not only with the lowest-rung officers of the Government all over the
state but also with the people in rural areas through video conferencing. He has
introduced a novel concept of SWAGAT.

Gujarat has made e-Governance functional in all its 141 municipalities. The Citizen
Facilitation Centres are now functional in all the major centres of Gujarat. At the district
level, taluka level and in municipal areas, computerized civic centres have been
established where the concept of one-day governance has been implemented. This
experiment has been further taken up to the village level by establishing e-grams
equipped with Computers and Internet Connectivity. All 14,000 gram panchayats have
been made e-grams.

The e-dhara project for total computerization of land records has been extremely
successful and widely acclaimed.

The other areas of e-Governance include electronic weigh bridges and smart cards for
driving licenses, online and roaming ration card system, online filing of sales tax returns,
connectivity between courts and jails, creation of huge data base of youths available for
employment, online availability of the Government resolutions and forms in digital
format, departmental websites disseminating information on various Government
schemes and activities etc.

A number of awards have been bagged for various e-governance initiatives. The recent
ones include the Best e-governed State award from the Government of India in January
2007 (ELITEX - 2007).
Water For All

As a party worker in his early days, Modi had observed that the shortage of water was
the biggest hurdle in the growth and development of Gujarat. Hence, soon after
becoming the Chief Minister, Modi focused his energies on the problem of water scarcity
that Gujarat was facing. He committed himself to a mission – ‘Water for All’ to ensure an
enhanced quality of life for all the citizens of the state; and in just five years, under his
leadership, Gujarat has witnessed a water revolution.

He accelerated the pace of the implementation of Sardar Sarovar Narmada Project with
the dam height today raised to 121.9 metres from 90 metres five years ago, thus making
the waters of Narmada river flow all across the state through canals and water
transmission lines.

Yet another initiative launched by his Government is the Sujalam Suflam Yojana (literally
meaning water for prosperity) which aims to convert the dry and water scarce
landscapes of Saurashtra, Kutch and North Gujarat into lush green and flourishing
greenscapes. This scheme aims to spread the canal network right from the river Mahi in
central Gujarat to the Banas in north Gujarat as well as creating additional storage
capacity in various reservoirs and ponds in these areas.

Gujarat was the first state to implement the unique concept of river interlinking. Modi
received wide appreciation from one and all when due to his vision, the dried river
Saraswati in Northern part of Gujarat, considered very pious, was rejuvenated by
bringing the waters of the river Narmada.

He also actively encouraged the application of all kinds of water harvesting, water
harnessing and management techniques. Under his visionary leadership, watershed
development, construction of check dams, khet talavadis (farm ponds), boribunds
(obstructing the flow of water by putting cement filled bags) have become the
government’s commitment and a people’s movement.

A statewide drinking water grid is also being established for providing drinking water to
more than 14,000 villages and 154 towns. The result is that earlier about 4,000 villages
needed to be provided water through tankers which has now reduced to less than 185.
Second Green Revolution

Gujarat is all set to lead the country into the second green revolution. With a holistic
approach adopted for water management, the implementation of Jyotigram Yojana
(scheme for uninterrupted power supply) for providing round-the-clock 3-phase power
and a host of other initiatives including Krishi Mahotsav (agricultural festival), Gujarat
has witnessed impressive agricultural performance during the last five years.

Agriculture production has increased by 16 lac metric tonnes. GSDP from agriculture at
current prices has increased by 128% during the period 2000-01 to 2005-06 reaching a
whooping Rs. 33,659 crores. Gujarat is far ahead of the target of 4.03 % average annual
growth rate set by the Planning Commission, in the first four years of 10th Five-year
Plan.

The overall production/cultivation cost has come down dramatically from Rs 9150 to Rs
5025 per hectare and the land brought under cultivation has increased significantly.

In order to economize the use of water, Gujarat has also speeded up the promotion,
awareness and application of micro-irrigation techniques such as Drip and Sprinkler
Irrigation. While the centre has allocated Rs 400 crores towards drip irrigation for the
entire country, the Government of Gujarat has already started work on drip irrigation
schemes worth Rs 1500 Crores. The state government has also created 2.94 lac water
harvesting structures like check dams, boribunds and Khet Talavdis (farm ponds)
through people's participation.

Gujarat now has four Agricultural Universities which are networked for collaborative
research. A strategy of "Lab to Land," offering technical assistance to the farmers with
the help of scientists of agriculture universities has been introduced. This Lab to Land
approach has enabled agri-research from the labs to reach the grass-root levels. The
Government is setting up Agri Export Zones, one covering central and southern Gujarat
and two in Saurashtra region are already notified.

Yet another initiative unique to Gujarat is the concept of Soil Health Cards. To ensure
that the farmers know the quality of their soil and the ideal crop for their soil, a major
programme of testing and analyzing the health of soil was taken up for all the villages in
the state. Based on the data collected, the government has issued soil health cards to
the farmers. These cards contain detailed soil analysis with recommendation for usage
of right kind of fertilizers and seeds. More than one lac soil samples have been collected
and scientifically analyzed and more than 235,000 soil health cards have been
distributed.

Fruits and spices also saw a major jump in their production as compared to earlier years.
Apart from traditional crops, the state is now going to be known for roses, strawberries,
organic products and above all bio-diesel.

Development of The Deprived

The man who connotes CM as the common man is not satisfied until the fruits of state’s
development reach the most common and those who have been hitherto deprived.
There are different groups of such people and each group requires a special way to deal
with. Going to the root of the problems they face, his empathetic heart came out with the
steps like issue of roaming ration cards, roaming school cards, insurance cover for 3 lac
handicapped, insurance cover for 12.5 million school children, specital housing colony
for the snake charmers, betterment of the kite preparing community and several other
awe-inspiring ideas.

The fact that Gujarat ranks first in the country in the implementation of 20 point
programme for poverty abolition for the last four years in a row, speaks a lot beyond
ranks and numbers. As per the estimate of the Planning Commission of India, Gujarat
will remain at the top in achieving the targets of poverty abolition. In fact, the government
has already provided Housing to 46,263 below poverty line families at the cost of Rs.
13672.94 lacs.

In the BPL (below poverty line) survey 2002–07, conducted to identify beneficiaries for
rural development programmes, three new socio-economic parameters were included in
the survey, viz., households headed by widow, female dependent families and
handicapped members. This door-to-door survey covered 68.65 lac rural households of
which 15.93% were identified as extremely poor and 84.07% as poor.
This new BPL list has now been placed online and the selection of beneficiaries is
`based on this list. This list will be revised every year and online query of data has been
made accessible to all.

Face Lifting Civic Amenities

Gujarat is not just India’s most progressive and industrialized states, it is one of the most
urbanized too.

The Gujarat Urban Mission aims to provide an enhanced quality of urban life and is
essentially a movement that involves people’s participation to create clean, green and
well managed cities as well as communities that are self sufficient and self reliant.

Gujarat is the first state in the country to have made e-Governance functional in all its
municipalities and municipal corporations and also the first state to have framed a
comprehensive urban health policy. Financial reforms that have been implemented
include accrual based double entry accounting systems and area based property tax
calculations.

To improve quality of life in urban areas, the year 2005 was declared as the year of
Urban Development. This year witnessed conception and rapid implementation of
several initiatives; door-to door solid waste collection; creation of Gaurav Paths (roads of
pride) and Vikas Paths (roads of development); greening of cities through social a
forestation, removal of encroachments; promoting CNG vehicles to reduce pollution;
strengthening of water distribution systems; planned housing for the urban poor – all
these initiatives are enabling the cities of Gujarat to evolve into global cities. The malls
and multiplexes that have come up in recent years have changed the face of the cities of
Gujarat.

Apart from this, the Government has set aside a fund of Rs.500 crores as the seed
money to raise funds from financial institutions as also through public participation to
upgrade the urban amenities and services such as cleanliness, sanitation, healthcare,
primary education, construction of roads and flyovers, street lights, gardens and parks,
sports complexes etc.
Ahmedabad is now a mega city and several world-class projects have been put on the
fast track including the Sabarmati Riverfront Development and Bus Rapid Transit
System.

A befitting response to the state initiatives has been given by the corporate world by
signing MOUs worth an investment of RS.2.05 lac crores in urban infrastructure projects
- ranging from hotels to hospitals.

To strengthen the amenities in the entire state and to bring the quality of life in rural
areas at par with that in the cities, the year 2007 is being celebrated as “Nirmal Gujarat”
– an ongoing initiative for a cleaner and greener Gujarat.

Knowledge Corridors

For higher education, Gujarat has established five more universities. These include
Nirma University at Ahmedabad, DDU at Nadiad, DAIICT at Gandhinagar, Shyamji
Krishna Verma University at Kutch and Ganpat University at Mehsana.

A National Law University has also been established in Gandhinagar. Apart from this,
four agricultural universities have also been set up and have formed a network for
collaborative research. Several new engineering, pharmacy and technical colleges have
been set up and this has led to doubling of the intake capacity in the last five years. An
IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) too is being planned in Gujarat.

To cater to the demands of a knowledge based economy, new courses have been
introduced to develop domain-specific human resources. The stretch between
Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar is now being developed as a knowledge corridor. Land
has been allotted and several IT parks and centres of excellence are taking shape here.

All such measures for human resource development are expected to bring about a
revolution in educational standards in Gujarat.
INDIA’S GROWTH ENGINE
Industrial Paradise

Gujarat has been at the forefront of investment attraction in the country. As per the
reports published by Industry Division, NIC, Government of India, Gujarat continues to
be Number One in terms of projects actually commissioned (through IEM) during the
period 1991 to 2006. Ever since the process of liberalization which began way back in
1991, Gujarat has gone ahead in attracting investments in the industrial projects through
IEMs. The state’s share in approved investments through IEMs is very high - 16% as at
the end of 2006 - which places it in the league of the first two most attractive states in
India.

Gujarat has only 5% of India’s population and 6% of its geographical area, but its
contribution to India in terms of ‘Value of Output’ is 16.10%; in terms of exports it is 16%
and in terms of stock market capitalization it is 30%.

With over 3 lac small scale units, over 2200 large and medium industries, 83 closely
integrated industrial clusters, 182 industrial estates and 33 Special Economic Zones with
flexible labour laws and an easy exit policy – Gujarat is one of the most industrialized
states of India.

However, what makes Gujarat the industrial paradise is its peaceful and hard working
workforce. Gujarat has a 16.2% share in India’s industrial production whereas the
percentage of man-days lost in Gujarat due to labour strife is just 0.52% - the lowest in
the country.
Energy With Synergy

Gujarat accounts for 54% of India's onshore crude oil production; 50% of India's natural
gas production; 46% of India's installed refining capacity and 60% of India's total crude
oil import facility.

It is Gujarat that has given India its largest Natural Gas discovery of 20 TCF at the KG
basin and has already started implementing a 2200 km state-wide gas grid – to connect
the demand and supply centres.

Out of this, 750 km network is already operational and another 650 km pipeline is under
implementation. In the next two to three years, the Gas Grid is expected to reach all the
25 districts of Gujarat and cater to the requirements of industrial, commercial and
domestic sectors.

Modi’s relentless efforts helped setting up two LNG terminals – one by LNG Petronet at
Dahej and another by Shell at Hazira, both have commenced their operations. His vision
of transforming Gujarat into a gas-based economy is steadily being realized with the
setting of a state-wide gas grid. Door-step availability of Natural Gas promises to
empower the industries as well as households and will completely change the economic
landscape of Gujarat by reducing fuel costs and environmental problems.

Gujarat has taken a pioneering role in utilizing Natural Gas for power generation,
fertilizer production, manufacturing and transportation. With an increasing presence of
upstream multinationals, downstream giants and midstream companies in Gujarat, the
state has emerged as the Petro-Capital of India and leading the country towards energy
sufficiency and into an exciting hydrocarbon economy. With an upcoming Special
Economic Zone dedicated to Oil and Gas sector, an unprecedented growth is envisaged.

Addressing any issue in totality as usual, Modi also visualized the need for an institution
to undertake research and provide human resource support to the petro capital of India.
Thus was born GERMI – Gujarat Energy Research and Management Institute - to
pursue energy research and studies and develop specialized human resources for the
oil and gas sector.
Growth With Discipline

Considering the overall growth potential of Gujarat, the Planning Commission had set a
target growth rate of 10.2% for Gujarat in the 10th five-year plan compared to the
average of 8.2% for the entire country; and true to this spirit of economic buoyancy,
Gujarat achieved a growth rate of 15% in the first year itself and surpassed the target of
10.2% set by the planning commission. In fact, Gujarat has been growing at 10-11% for
the last several years and all set to take on the challenges of the next five-year plan
target.

What is more important is that the growth is coupled with financial discipline. Soon after
he became the Chief Minister, Modi focused on curtailing government expenditure and
emphasized on the recovery of government dues. The sales tax income which was
Rs.5,890 crores when he took over increased to Rs.10,606 crores within 4 years, more
importantly without imposing any new taxes. Since last 3 years, development
expenditure is more than the non-development expenditure in Gujarat, which is an
unusual phenomenon.

On account of the abundant availability of gas and with a view to proliferate its using
both by the industry and household, he reduced the sales tax on gas from 20% to 12%.
His fiscal prudence has enabled the turning around of `PSU’s (Public Sector Units) such
as GSFC, GMDC, GIPCL, GNFC, GACL and resulted in enhancing their market
capitalization to an all time high. Another prudent step was a major restructuring drive
turning around the power sector from a loss of over Rs.1900 crores in 2003-04 to a profit
of Rs.180 crores in 2005-06.

He also addressed certain basic issues plaguing the economy and brought about
financial discipline. He has demonstrated adequate courage to hike the electricity tariff in
certain sectors, checking power theft, not succumbing to the demand for undue
subsidies, cancellation of fake ration cards etc. At the same time, his decisive reforms
such as rationalization of taxes, system for improving cash collections for power sector
and the like have improved the economic health of the state.
Over the last few years, the Government of Gujarat has also succeeded in completely
wiping off the revenue deficit from the level of Rs 7,000 crores and is poised to be a
revenue surplus state. The fiscal deficits have also decreased substantially.

The SEZ Capital Of India

SEZs – Special Economic Zones are engines of growth and Gujarat was amongst the
first states to put SEZ Act in place as early as 2004. Today, as many as 33 SEZs have
been approved in the state, of which two are fully functional and others are in the
process of development.

Though in terms of numbers, Gujarat has only 33 SEZs, in terms of overall area for
SEZs Gujarat leads – and has hence emerged as the SEZ capital of India.

The recent Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors’ Summit witnessed massive investments in
these SEZs and since most of these SEZs are manufacturing driven, they offer a
tremendous employment generation potential.
Infrastructure Par Excellence

Gujarat today has one of the best infrastructures in the country comprising of 11 airports,
1 international airport, an extensive rail network and a robust road network of over
74,000 km. It has India’s highest tele-density, highest number of operational ISPs, the
longest optical fibre cable network in the country and above all GSWAN – Gujarat State
Wide Area Network – the largest IP based e-Governance network in Asia Pacific.
Gujarat is blessed with a coastline of over 1600 km, the longest in the country, and is
dotted with 41 ports. Today, these gateways to the world handle over 25% of India’s total
cargo, 17,763 out of 18,028 villages of Gujarat are connected with pucca roads
(concrete roads). This excellent rural road connectivity of 98.53% is the best in the
country and translates into fast track growth.

Gujarat has always believed in networking for success and it is this philosophy that has
enabled it to create a networked infrastructure of the 21st century
• State-wide Gas Grid
• State-wide Water Distribution Grid
• State-wide IP based e-Governance Network
• Agri-Net for Lab to Land knowledge flow
• Wireless Rural Internet Connectivity
• Joint sector railway lines linking the ports to vast hinterland

Modi believes that infrastructure is the key to the process of economic development and
hence has given it the topmost priority. His Government is committed to make Gujarat a
global industrial hub by decisive and result-oriented initiatives. The state-owned Gujarat
Infrastructure Development Board headed by the Chief Minister himself has in place an
infrastructure master plan called Blueprint for Infrastructure in Gujarat – BIG 2020,
entailing a total capital outlay of Rs.3,57,468 crores and encompassing 11 broad sectors
such as Power, Water and Irrigation, Ports, Roads, Industrial Parks and SEZs, Urban
Infrastructure, Gas, Knowledge Corridors, Railways and Airports, Tourism and Telecom -
Infrastructure that enables growth and empowers people to accelerate on the path of
progress and prosperity.
CHRONOLOGY OF DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES

07-10-2001 Took oath as the 14th Chief Minister of Gujarat. Came out with major
initiatives including Panchamrit (strength of five elements) scheme. This is an
integrated approach for all round development and includes Jal Shakti (water),
Gyan Shakti (knowledge), Urja Shakti (energy), Jan Shakti (Human Resources)
and Raksha Shakti (security). Organised attempt to rebuild the areas devastated
by the earthquake of January 2001. Activating the village Panchayats through
Gram Sabhas.
05-01-2002 "Lok Kalyan Mela" (People's Welfare Fair) scheme floated based on the idea
that the Government should reach to people's doorstep, and not the vice versa.
First Lok Kalyan Mela organized at Deesa, where more than 3 lakh people
gathered and assistance of more than Rs.1 crore distributed.
26-01-2002 On the first anniversary of the devastating earthquake, the Chief Minister,
along with his cabinet ministers and secretaries, spent nights in the quake-hit
areas. Also expressed feelings by way of "Dharti Mata Pujan" (Worshipping
Mother Earth).
01-03-2002 Worked day and night to restore normalcy in wake of the communal riots
which spread in the aftermath of burning of a passenger train at Godhra
Railway Station on 27th February 2002.
15-03-2002 "Vidyadeep" yojana for providing insurance cover to all school going children.
19-05-2002 Narmada waters supplied to Rajkot and Jamnagar through pipeline.
29-06-2002 Inauguration of computerisation of land records at Chhota Udepur - the first
experiment in Gujarat.
28-08-2002 Brought the water of Narmada river to Sabarmati river – the first ever river
interlinking project in India.
08-09-2002 Started Gujarat Gaurav Yatra from the historical place Phagvel with the aim of
re-instilling Gujarat's pride.
19-01-2003 Organised a workshop for secretaries - the first of its kind in the country,
where they were asked to present the activities, programs and functioning of
various departments. First step towards administrative reforms.
28-01-2003 Inauguration & dedication of National Express way No. 1 (Ahmedabad -
Vadodara).
05-02-2003 Successfully brought the solution of the issue of crude oil royalty pending
since last 42 years in favour of Gujarat : Annual increase of Rs.850 crore to
Gujarat's exchequer.
20-02-2003 Organised a Management Training for his Ministers and Secretaries at the
Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad. The first CM to take such
initiative in the country.
22-03-2003 Agreements for mutual co-operation with the Governor of Astrakhan Region
(Russia) in Ahmedabad.
01-05-2003 With the aim of making the celebration of Gujarat Day as people's festival,
organized grand celebration outside the capital for the first time, (at Vadodara).
10-05-2003 Historical speech in "India Today Conclave" organized at New Delhi
Suggested ways of making center-state relations more cordial.
15-05-2003 The work of increasing the height of the Narmada dam by another 5 meters
started in the presence of the Governor.
18-05-2003 Narmada waters brought to Kutch through pipeline.
13-06-2003 Organized "Kanya Kelavni Rath" and "Shala Praveshotsav" as part of Girls"
Education Drive, where he himself moved to tribal areas and spent there three
days and nights.
22-06-2003 A massacre similar to Jaliyanwala Baug had happened at the Pal village in
Sabarkantha district of Gujarat, primarily a tribal belt. No one till now had
remembered those 1200 martyrs. Shri Modi unveiled a monument in the
memory of those martyrs.
25-06-2003 Issued ordinance to build SEZs and industrial parks in Gujarat.
29-06-2003 The first police station of Gujarat Electricity Board opened at Rajkot as an
effort to combat power theft.
15-08-2003 For the first time, celebration of Independence Day organized at Patan, instead
of capital. This day was celebrated as a people's festival.
23-08-2003/ 24- Tana-Riree Malhar Festival - Vadnagar organised in a grand manner.
08-2003
16-09-2003 Inauguration of Hazira LNG & port Project – Surat
20-09-2003 Announced Gujarat's first Mines and Minerals Policy.
21-09-2003 Announced the New Industrial Policy, with a dream of making Gujarat a
global industrial hub.
22-09-2003 New Tourism Policy announced with an aim to make Gujarat a prime
attraction for the global tourists.
25-09-2003 The identity of true Gujarati spirit - Navratri Festival was started in the
presence of Deputy Prime Minister Shri L.K. Advani projected as World's
longest dance festival.
28-09-2003 Vibrant Gujarat 2003 and Investors' Summit, an opportunity to introduce
Gujarat's unparalleled entrepreneurship and business acumen to the world
started : MOUs for the investment of worth Rs.66,000 crores were signed
during three days.
17-10-2003 A unique initiative - Jyotigram Yojana started at Unjha. A scheme to provide
24 hour uninterrupted power supply to the villages.
06-11-2003 Interaction with the premier industrialists of the country during Economic
Round Table Conference at Mumbai.
07-11-2003 Dialogue with the experts of IT sector at Bangalore with a view to promote IT
investments in Gujarat.
19-11-2003 First Adijati Lok Kalyan Mela (Tribal Welfare Fair) organized at Vansda
(Navsari).
13-12-2003 Dedication to the Nation of Mundra International Container terminal Mundra
adipur Rail Link.
19-12-2003 Tribal Welfare Mela - Boriyach Vasana.
12-01-2004 Vibrant Gujarat : Patangotsav - International Kite Festival
18-01-2004 Timbi – the first village having "E-gram" service.
03-02-2004 Various initiatives announced in the interest of farmers.
05-02-2004 A survey to determine the boundary of Kalpasar dam started.
16-02-2004 Sujalam Sufalam scheme started at Koba.
16-03-2004 Sanction received for increasing Narmada dam's height to 110 meters :
Construction was started.
20-03-2004 Narmada Pujan Yatra
30-03-2004 Bharat Uday Yatra - Phase from Porbandar to Himmatnagar
18-04-2004 The World Bank's Green Award awarded to GSDMA (A Gujarat Government
Agency).
07-07-2004 Announced formulating Nari Gaurav policy.
07-07-2004 Started a Water Revolution : An unprecedented achievement of constructing
more than one lakh farm ponds within 100 days.
17-07-2004 Established the Gujarat Law University, the first of its kind in the State.
26-07-2004 "Teerth Gram Yojana" implemented to combat riots and crimes at village level.
28-07-2004 Direct flight between Ahmedabad – Singapore started after vigorous efforts.
10-08-2004 Gujarat starts becoming petro-capital of India. A large oil pool found at
Dholka.
15-08-2004 A unique scheme for the poor labourers "Roaming Ration Card" initiated.
25-08-2004 National awards to Gujarat in power sector.
21-09-2004 Karmayogi Sarvabhipray Abhiyaan started for inviting feedback from 5 lakh
government employees
22-09-2004 Important initiatives in farmers' interest : A system to get computerized
certificates of land records.
24-09-2004 Gujarat got sanction to establish three more SEZs.
30-09-2004 Rejuvenation of Sarswati river – siddhpur
02-10-2004 "Swachchh Gujarat - Samras Gujarat" drive started.
02-10-2004 Insurance cover of Rs.1 lakh each to fifty thousand sanitation workers.
15-10-2004 Vibrant Gujarat Navaratri festival - Ahmedabad.
31-10-2004 Stone laying ceremony of the Apparel Park at Ahmedabad for manufacturing
readymade garments with a potential to offer employment on a large scale.
19-12-2004 Inauguration of Jewellery Park - Surat.
12-01-2005 Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors' Summit inaugurated by Shri L. K. Advaniji
at Ahmedabad. MOUs for investment to the tune of 1.06 lack crores signed.
11-02-2005 Year 2005 declared as "Urban Development Year" with an aim of making
cities clean, beautiful and equipped with amenities.
14-02-2005 CNG buses put on roads by using CNG as the fuel in public transport vehicles
to protect environment.
05-03-2005 Beginning of establishing Narmada Co-operative Irrigation Societies in the
villages across Gujarat so that the farmers use the Narmada water for irrigation
scientifically.
12-03-2005 Beginning of the first bio-diesel run S.T. bus in the country.
21-04-2005 Gujarat's second LNG terminal at Hazira offered to public. Gujarat became the
first state having two LNG terminals.
11-05-2005 Successful planning and implementation of Krishi Mahotsav across the state to
ensure that the agricultural research reaches to the land from the labs.
08-09-2005 Saraswati-Narmada Mahasangam program organized at the ancient and well-
known pilgrim place Siddhpur.
08-09-2005 Saraswati Mahasangam: Interlinking of river Narmada from southern Gujarat
 to the dried river Saraswati in Northern Gujarat
03-10-2005 Beginning of Vibrant Gujarat Navratri Festival - 2005.
09-11-2005 Chiranjeevi Yojana launched for reduction of maternal mortality and infant
mortality by ensuring safe deliveries of poor women by involving private
gynaecologists
12-01-2006 Patangotsav at Ahmedabad
12-02-2006 An effort to boost tourism with Ranotsav at Kharaghoda.
05-03-2006 Beti bachaao abhiyaan launched to prevent female foeticide through mass
awareness and legal measures
29-04-2006 Krishi Mahotsav 2006 commenced. Raths flagged off by the Chief Minister at
Anand.
01-05-2006 Gujarat Gaurav Din celebrated at Porbandar.
26-05-2006 Grishm Mahotsav organized at Saputara.
16-06-2006 Starting of Kankya Kelavni Rathyatra– Shala Praveshotsav-06.
27-06-2006 Kutchi New Year - Ashadhi Beej Mahotsav-2006, Mandvi.
13-07-2006 57th Van Mahotsav and Teerthankar Van opened for public.
15,16, & 17-08- Spent three days at Surat, moved in the flood-hit areas and helped the flood-
2006 affected people.
20-09-2006 20th meeting of Western Zonal Council, Goa.
23-09-2006 Vibrant Gujarat - Navratri Festival began at Gandhinagar.
29-09-2006 Inauguration of country's first College to Career Programme (through Edusat
Vande Gujarat) at Gandhinagar.
11-11-2006 Dedication of the innovative Jyotigram Yojana (completion) to the nation by
H.E.The President of India Dr.Abdul Kalam
14-11-2006 Inauguration of the first ever Evening Court of the nation by Chief Justice,
Supreme Court Shri Sabbarwal
12 & 13-1-2007 Historical event of signing of 363 MOUs for investment of Rs.4.60 lakh crores
(102 billion USD) in presence of leaders of the Indian corporate world.
16 & 17-02-2007 Urban Summit held in Ahmedabad , MOUs for a whooping investment of
Rs.2.05 lakh (46 billion USD) signed
27-2-2007 A special package for the benefit of 75 lakh tribals of the state, "Vanbandhu
Kalyan Yojana" , worth Rs.15,000 crores announced
6-3-2007 "Saagar Khedu Yojana"- an innovative package of Rs.11,000 crores announced
for the development of people of coastal areas
8-3-2007 "Kanya Kelavani Nidhi", a package worth Rs.11 crores declared for
encouraging girl child education
28-3-07 Package worth Rs.13,000 crores announced for upliftment of Urban poor
11-4-2007 Foundation laying ceremony of four lane ring road at Ahmedabad
1-5-2007 Foundation laying ceremony of Ropeway at Girnar
20-5-2007 Setting up Seismological Research Institute- foundation laid.
21,24,25,26,31-05- Mahila Maha Sammelans- huge public meetings for women empowerment at
2007 various places in different districts, attended by lacs of women. Awareness
created for their rights and government schemes for women empowerment.
3-06-2007 The scheme for upliftment of urban poor launched 8-06-2007 Laid foundation of
Academy Bhavan
8-06-2007 Inauguration of Centre for Geo informatics
13-06-2007 Balbhog Yojana-scheme for supplying fortified food for aanganwadi children
launched
14-06-2007 Sujalam Sufalam-river interlinking project launched- a major initiative in water
management
15 to 17-06-2007 Kanya kelavani Yatra- school enrolment drive with a special focus on
measures to enhance the nutrition level for children
28-06-2007 Inauguration of Gujarat International Financial Techcity
29-06-2007 Inauguration of Akrimota Power Project, a 250 MW power generation plant
30-06-2007 Launching of SCOPE (Society for Creation of Opportunity through
Proficiency in English) - an initiative to provide soft skills of international
standards to the youth of Gujarat at reasonable cost.

POLITICS – STRONG MAJORITY IN 2001 MADE IT ALL

HAPPEN

7-10-2001 Took oath as the Chief Minister.

24-02-2002 Won the Assembly by-elections from Rajkot. Victory celebrations at
Rajkot.
25-02-2002 Took oath as the Member of Legislative Assembly for the first time.
19-07-2002 Dissolved the 10th Assembly to challenge the forces maligning
Gujarat's image and get people's verdict. Continued as interim Chief
Minister.
12-12-2002 Voting for the elections of Gujarat Assembly.
15-12-2002 Historical verdict by the people of Gujarat expressing trust in Shri
Narendra Modi and contradicting the assumptions of political
observers, media experts and opposition - Won 127 seats out of 182.
20-12-2002 Swearing in ceremony of CM & his Ministers - Ahmedabad.
22-12-2002 Oath-taking ceremony in Ahmedabad's Sardar Stadium in the
presence of lacs of admirers, well-wishers and party workers. First
incidence in the country where the Prime Minister attended the oath-
taking ceremony of a Chief Minister.
06-03-2003 Training to the MLAs of BJP.
13-03-2003 111 days completed by the newly elected BJP Government.
28-05-2003 Unveiled the oil painting of renowned nationalist Vir Savarkar at
Gujarat Assembly.
24-08-2003 Veeranjali Yatra, carrying the mortal remains of Shri Shyamji
Krushna Verma and his wife Lt. Bhanumatiben, started from
Mumbai.
02-05-2004 Holy bath in Sinhasth Kumbh Mela.
22-08-2005 India Today, India TV and the Gujarati daily Sandesh declared Shri
Narendra Modi as the ‘No.1 Chief Minister' after conducting a survey
of all the chief ministers of the country.
00-12-2005 Jan Sampark Yatra to achieve a historical win for the Bharatiya
Janata Party in the elections of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation.
24-02-2006 Presented the budget for the first time as incharge Finance Minister.
16-04-2006 Observed fast for 51 hours against the people opposing Narmada
dam. First incidence where a Chief Minster had observed fast in such
a way.
28-05-2006 Statue of Vir Savarkar unveiled at Mumbai.
04-08-2006 A program with the members of Young President Organisation,
Bombay Chapter at Mumbai.
03-09-2006 Addressed World Gujarati Conference-2006 held at USA through
video conference.
27-09-2006 Bharat Mata Temple and Amrut Mahotsav at Haridwar.
01-06-2007 Became the longest serving head of Gujarat with completion of 2063
days of rule as Chief Minister. Gujarat, since its formation in 1960,
has had as many as 14 chief ministers in 47 years, but no former chief
minister of the state has served for more than 2062 days. Prior to
Modi, Shri Hitendra Desai was the longest serving head of the state,
being in power for 2062 days.
10-06-2007 Public function held by Bhartiya Janata Party to felicitate the longest
serving Chief Minister of the state. An overwhelming response
received from the public with scores of people pouring from all
corners of the state.