Vibrant Gujarat Day 2: GIFT City, EVs, ports and trade in focus
Vibrant Gujarat | On day 2 of the Vibrant Gujarat 2024, the attention shifted towards Gujarat's fintech and IT hub, GIFT City and sectors like electric mobility, ports and trade.
After big-bang announcements on the opening day of Vibrant Gujarat, the focus shifted to sectors like electric mobility, ports, trade and the state's fintech and IT hub, GIFT City.
NSE CEO Ashish Chauhan, in an exclusive chat with CNBC-TV18, said that $85 billion worth of bonds in GIFT City were already listed. "In about 10 years, we should have bonds worth $1 trillion," he said, "What Hong Kong did for China's financial sector, GIFT City will do for India." Chauhan added: "Many banks have several thousands working for the IFSC, many NBFCs, AIFs and mutual funds are coming to GIFT City."
American tech major Nvidia, with its partner Yotta, has announced the establishment of an IT data centre at GIFT City. The announcement was made by the company's senior Vice President, Shankar Trivedi. Speaking to CNBC-TV18 later, Trivedi said that India's talent pool was a big draw in the decision.
"We have a giant pool of talent already in India, and millions of developers work in global systems integrators," said Trivedi, "All developers will be AI-skilled, and AI-enabled to augment business processes. We are big investors in India, and there's no reason to stop investing."
Earlier today, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said GIFT City's derivative contracts upto October were worth over $2 billion. "There are a total of three exchanges, 26 banks and 26 aircraft leasing companies in the Indian Financial Services Code (IFSC)," she said, "GIFT City is home to 86 fund managers and eight ship lessors."
On the electric mobility front, a cross-section of EV players, including Ather, Mahindra Auto and Toyota Kirloskar Motor among others, had a sit-down with union minister of roadways Nitin Gadkari. Speaking exclusively to CNBC-TV18 later, Ather CEO Tarun Mehta said the EV sector was due for a 10-fold growth in the next half-a-decade.
"India's 8 to 9 lakh electric two-wheelers will grow to 1.2 crore in five to six years," said Mehta, "This 10x growth in electric two-wheelers has never been heard of in Indian manufacturing." He added, "We are also increasing our capacities in line with this demand — we are opening a new plant this year itself."
Mehta said that Ather would be profitable "soon", without specifying when. "We should have some announcements to make in the next two years," he said when asked for a timeline.
Meanwhile, Union Minister for Ports and Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal confirmed that nearly $2.5 billion worth of MOUs in Indian ports have been inked at the summit. "We have received MOUs worth $2.5 billion for India's ports, our target under Amrit Kaal for the Indian port sector is ₹80 lakh crore."
Meanwhile, even as India and the UK pick up speed towards the final lap of FTA negotiations, the UK's minister of state for Africa, Middle East and South Asia, Lord Tariq Ahmad hinted at having an FTA before elections in both countries. For context, India goes to polls in a few months, while elections in the UK are scheduled to be held in the second half of 2024.
"Our priority is to get a quality free trade agreement that benefits both countries," said Lord Tariq, "Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Sunak have shown urgency to close the FTA."
He added: "While I don't have a timeline on when negotiations will conclude, it would make sense to have an FTA before elections in both countries this year, as a new government would mean a fresh start."
As Vibrant Gujarat enters its final leg on Friday, MSMEs and the sustainability sector will be in focus, even as Prime Minister Modi is expected to announce the total number of MOUs signed across all three days of the investor summit.
Check out our in-depth Market Coverage, Business News & get real-time Stock Market Updates on CNBC-TV18. Also, Watch our channels CNBC-TV18, CNBC Awaaz and CNBC Bajar Live on-the-go!
Lok Sabha Elections: 6th phase sees over 59% voter participation; West Bengal records highest at 78% turnout
May 25, 2024 10:45 PM
'Need stable policies, keep the growth levers moving': Corporate India’s key ask, expectation from new govt
May 25, 2024 6:15 PM