Deputy CM Harsh Sanghavi says Gujarat’s new goal is to turn local firms into global leaders

Gujarat is recalibrating its industrial development strategy from collecting headline MoUs to nurturing domestic firms into “national champions” and eventually “global leaders,” Deputy Chief Minister and Industry

Minister Harsh Sanghavi said at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

“I want to handle and nurture industries of Gujarat to make them national champions in first phase and in second phase, I want to see them as global leaders,” he said, describing the objective as a long-term shift rather than a summit-by-summit exercise.

Sanghavi argued that Gujarat already has a proven record in attracting capital, saying that in the 2024 Vibrant Gujarat Summit the state received “more than ₹45 lakh crore” worth of proposals. He added that two recently held regional Vibrant investment meets in Mehsana and Rajkot drew “more than ₹9 lakh crore” of proposals in a short span.

“We are not running behind MoUs,” he said, emphasising that Davos was about identifying “new way, new opportunities” across sectors.

He said the Gujarat delegation met companies across artificial intelligence, textile parks, textile manufacturing, GCCs and financial services models, with GIFT City and Dholera positioned as platforms for new investment. “We are here with clear vision and mission to develop aggressively industry in my state,” he said.

Manufacturing will still anchor the growth narrative. Citing a deal completed on the day of his Davos trip, Sanghavi said Gujarat signed an MoU with Maruti for “₹35,000 crore.”

Once the expansion is implemented, “only Maruti will manufacture more than 20 lakhs car per annum in Gujarat,” he said, calling it a validation of the state’s industrial base.

Sanghavi also linked the upcoming 2030 Commonwealth Games to a broader sports and infrastructure plan. He said preparations are underway to ready infrastructure “by end of 2028” and that the Sardar Patel Sports Corridor will be completed “by 2029.”

Alongside, Gujarat will host the International Police and Fire Games, which he said would attract “more than 12,000 athletes,” a participation level he noted was comparable to global events. “We are getting it to make a sports culture in Gujarat,” he said, while adding that India now has the ambition to pursue the Olympics in the future.

For 2026, Sanghavi said Gujarat would focus on securing more investments, expanding market access and pushing domestic firms up the value chain: “We want to make Gujarat more accessible for all the global companies in all sectors.”