Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Global Patidar Business Summit (GPBS), being organized by Sardardham, today via video conferencing. The Chief Minister of Gujarat Bhupendrabhai Patel and Union Ministers and industrial leaders were among those present on the occasion.
Organized by Sardardham under ‘Mission 2026’ to provide an impetus to the socio-economic development of the Patidar community, the summit is organized every two years. The first two summits were held in Gandhinagar in 2018 and 2020, and the current summit is now being held in Surat. The main theme of GPBS 2022 is “Aatmanirbhar Community to Aatmanirbhar Gujarat and India.” The summit aims to bring together small, medium and large enterprises within the community; nurture and support new entrepreneurs and provide training and employment assistance to the educated youth. The three-day summit, being organized from 29th April to 1st May, covers various aspects of government industrial policy, MSMEs, start-ups, and innovation, among others.
Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister noted the status of the city of Surat as one of the fastest-growing cities in the world. Recalling Sardar Patel’s words, Modi said, “Today India has so much. We just have to strengthen our self-confidence, our spirit of Aatmnirbharta. This confidence will come only when there is the participation of everyone in development, everyone’s effort will be involved.”
On the enhancement of the spirit of entrepreneurship in the country, Modi said that via the constant effort of the government through its policies and its actions such an environment should be created in the country that even the youth of ordinary families become entrepreneurs, dream big and take pride in entrepreneurship.
Modi said that schemes like Mudra Yojna are giving strength to those people to get into a business who never dreamed about doing so. Similarly, Start-Up India is helping in the realization of innovation, talent and dreams of Unicorns which appeared inaccessible earlier. Production Linked Incentive, said Modi, is infusing new energy in the traditional sectors and creating new possibilities in new sectors. Despite the challenges of pandemic, he informed, the MSME sector of the country advanced rapidly. With massive financial support lakhs of employment in the sector were protected and now this sector is creating many new avenues of employment. PM-SVANIDHI scheme has associated street vendors in the growth story by giving them access to formal banking and finance. The scheme has been extended till December 2024 recently, he informed.
Modi said that every small and big business is contributing to the national progress and this spirit of Sabka Prayas is becoming the strength of the New India in the Amrit Kaal. He expressed happiness that the Summit this year is discussing this aspect in detail.
Shifting to Gujarati the Prime Minister asked the community to create groups consisting of both experienced and young members to work on issues of national interest and document ideas, global good practices and government policies and their analysis can also be undertaken. He said subjects like fintech, skill development, financial inclusion etc can be taken for suggesting intervention in government and in academia. Similarly, National Education Policy can be taken up for exploration of the best way of total implementation and suggesting useful intervention at every level.
Modi also asked the summit to explore ways of modernizing agriculture and bringing investment in agriculture. He suggested that teams can be created to study the land of Gujarat for suggesting new ways of agriculture and new crops. He cited the example of conceiving the dairy movement in Gujarat few decades ago that changed the economic landscape of farmers of Gujarat. He said we need to find ways to promote agro-based industries. He said that such efforts can help in reducing the import of edible oil and emphasized the possibilities in the food-processing industry. He also asked the audience to look at the emerging FPOs as many opportunities are emerging with the advent of these organizations.
Modi also asked to work in the field of natural farming. He emphasized the possibility of using spare areas in the fields for the solar panels. He asked them to contribute in the recently launched Amrit Sarovar Abhiyan. Talking about the recently held Ayurved Summit, Modi said new possibilities in the herbal and Ayush sector can be looked at.
Modi called for a new outlook towards financial empires. He emphasized that it may be decided that industries can be based in small cities instead of big cities. He gave the example of Jyotirgram Yojna which triggered industrial activities in villages. Now such work can be done for small towns and cities, he said.
