ICICI Bank is building three 30-storey towers of 10 lakh square feet each near the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City in Ahmedabad. While the first tower is under construction, others will be developed in phases.

ICICI Bank is not alone.

GIFT at Ahmedabad is emerging as an important alternative to Mumbai for such companies. State Bank of India , Union Bank and Kotak Bank have already signed MoUs with the GIFT administration for developing office space there.

Some housing-finance companies and real estate developers are also in talks to build office complexes there.

Sunil Behl, CEO, GIFT, said that, “We are also in talks with commodity exchanges that can shift some of their offices.”

He said that GIFT will provide all infrastructure requirements for these companies and IT and ITeS companies. “We have received a lot of response from financial service companies for moving into the GIFT city,” he said.

The Gujarat government is also taking many initiatives for creating a healthy pool of talent for such companies.

Q. First of all hearty congratulations for getting the Nano project to Gujarat and…
A. I would also like to thank the Times group for taking things in the right perspective and taking the message all over the country.

Q. Tell us about the process which led to you and Ratan Tata hugging each other in Gandhinagar last Tuesday.
A. It was on Tuesday morning that Ratan Tata phoned me and told me about the decision. Prior to that there were some official level talks, but Tatas were engaged in a dialogue with at least six or seven states.

Q. When did you first speak to Ratan Tata about Nano?
A. Long time back. But at that time, I didn’t invite him to Gujarat. It was more of showing sympathy for what was happening in Singur. It was more of a friend talking to a friend who was in crisis. I have had friendly relations with the Tata family for long. In fact, I also spoke to a top Tata official at that time and told him that I would be happy if the crisis blows over and the Tata small car rolls out of West Bengal. He was surprised that a CM of another state was saying this, instead of taking advantage of the situation. I told him that Tata’s pulling out of Bengal would be a setback to the whole nation because the whole world has its eyes set on Nano. Many other countries would love to manufacture the Nano. With what was happening to the project, how could we put up a united and progressive image to the world and challenge China? But when Tatas announced they were pulling out, I just sent an SMS to Ratan Tata saying ‘Swagatam’. Other states may have written letters to him but I never did that.

Q. How often were you talking to Ratan Tata all this while?
A. Lots of times. I used to talk to him directly. In between, when I invited him to Gujarat, he told me he was going abroad but he would certainly send his officials. Many Tata teams did come here and looked around Gujarat for possible sites.

Q. How did Sanand happen then?
A. I am clear in my mind that I have to market the DMIC, the Delhi -Mumbai Industrial Corridor. And Sanand is a main centre on this corridor. If I want to draw attention of the whole world, there was no better magnet than Nano. The other consideration was that in the global scenario cities like Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore have already built an image for themselves. But Ahmedabad does not have that face. The image of Gujarat is great but I need a city as its showpiece. Nano will bring that status to Ahmedabad and will now be spoken of in the same league as Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore. With this one move, I have been able to bring both Ahmedabad and the DMIC to centre-stage.

Q. And the land that you gave was almost a government land, belonging to an agriculture university. It was hassle-free.
A. Yes, but even otherwise, farmers in Gujarat are different. When the news of Tatas coming to Chharodi in Sanand first broke out, the sarpanch, I think his name is Hussainbhai, took all the panchs with him to the district collectorate and said they were willing to give whatever the government asked for. They told us not to let Nano go away. It is like you yourself wrote that it was an early Diwali. Very true, everyone in Gujarat is feeling that way.

Q. But if the farmers were more in number, surely there would have been delays in handing over possession.
A. That’s true. If we had gone into the process of land acquisition, it would have taken time. For Tatas, urgency was critical and it was important for me to address that. But the situation is that I am a step ahead of Tata in terms of speed. I have told him that we want the smallest car in the shortest time. I am going to make this a model case study of how fast a government can work.

Q. Ratan Tata also told us in an interview that the speed at which Mr Modi moved was unbelievable.
A. I can tell you that in the last three days, after signing the MoU, our government has moved faster than the Tatas to sort out all the small details before they move in.

Q. Why is there silence about the MoU and the concessions you have given to Tata Motors?
A. There is no silence.

Q. Why can’t you put the MoU on the government website?
A. I have no problem in doing that once every thing is completely final. But the deal is within our known industrial policy. Land is the main thing. I have heard that the land in West Bengal was given at one rupee. But in my Gujarat, the land will be sold to Tatas at market rate. You will be surprised that there is also a clause in the agreement that if the Tatas delay in making the payment, they will have to pay eight per cent compound interest. What I have given the Tatas is faith and confidence. Given the conditions under which they were forced to move out of West Bengal, this is all they needed. Tata is not the kind of company which will bargain for some Rs 50 crore or so worth of concessions. I am also equally conscious that I have to live up to the faith and confidence Tatas have placed in me.

Q. We spoke to some Gujaratis who are employed in the car industry in Detroit and they seemed to be willing to relocate to Ahmedabad and work for the Nano project.
A. I am looking at an immense possibility. The worldwide business of the automotive industry is worth three trillion dollars. It is difficult for the developed world to make cheap cars because labour is expensive. In the coming years, foreign car manufacturers will be outsourcing spare-parts, even design. If Gujarat aquires those skills, my biggest advantage is our ports. Even today, Rajkot’s engineering industry supplies auto spare-parts to many countries. Nano will only act as a catalyst to make Gujarat into a hub of the auto industry. It is a non-polluting and labour intensive industry in which Gujarat has a great future. Don’t forget that Ahmedabad already has the National Institute of Design which has made a mark in the area of car design. Apart from a fitter who works on a lathe machine, even these high skills will come good and will be in great demand in Gujarat.

Q. Okay, Gujarat will emerge as an auto making hub. But is that all it means to Gujarat?
A. I am looking at Gujarat as a transport hub. It is an ambitious project we thought of in 2005 and are now aggressively pushing ahead with. We have the world’s biggest ship-breaking industry. But we have a 1600-km coastline. Do we only want to break ships? I think there is tremendous scope for ship-repairing in Gujarat which will serve both the east and the west. We are also bullish about ship-building. We are tying up with many firms in Korea and Taiwan on this. Plus, we are also looking at railways seriously as we enter into an era of metro-rail. All metro-rail trains in India today are being made in Vadodara by Bombardier. A truck manufacturing company is setting up a plant in Kutch. We already have General Motors in Halol and we will soon have Nano. Gujarat was known for chemicals and pharmaceuticals. It will now be known for its engineering industry.

Q. Is there a political message in Tatas moving from West Bengal to Gujarat, from one extreme of the political spectrum to the other?
A. I don’t believe any industrialist or investor goes by the colour of the flag of the party in power. He probably considers political stability.

Q. But Sanand also falls in the Lok Sabha constituency of L K Advani.
A. That is an accident. I don’t attach any significance to that. This was an event which matters to every Indian, it is not restricted to a few square kilometres. It will be unfair to Tatas if we were to look for a political motive behind their move.

Q. But Nano does add a feather to your cap.
A. I don’t believe that. Gujarat has the highest industrial and agricultural production growth rate in the country. Even Reserve Bank is saying 25 per cent of all investments in the country is flowing into Gujarat. Between the No. 1 and No. 2 states, there is a huge difference. What Nano has done is to show things in totality. I wish people see all that we have done in the last seven years which would give them an insight into the sustained development in Gujarat across all sectors.

Q. But among all milestones in Gujarat’s march to progress, where will you rank Nano?
A. The background of the small car project is so huge that Nano has found a place in the heart of the common man. And whoever takes good care of Nano will derive a lot of goodwill. Nano’s move is like Krishna’s birth while his parents Vasudev and Devki were in a jail and it was Yashoda who took care of him. Even today, Yashoda is remembered more than his real parents. And Gujarat will take care of Nano just like Yashoda raised Krishna. (Laughs)

Q. Where do you see Ahmedabad five or ten years down the line?
A. Gujarat will be different from other states because our development focus is not Ahmedabad-centric. Ahmedabad is good for marketing Gujarat. It may get the right branding in the next couple of years. But we want uniform development of Gujarat. We want to make Surat, Rajkot, Bhavnagar and other cities strong pillars on which Gujarat will stand. Plus, we are building new cities, like the financial city. Then there will be a nano-city exclusively for units researching or using nano-technology. We are planning a knowledge city, on the lines of Nalanda or Taxila, as an education hub. We are also planning a health city with modern medical infrastructure. We need to create satellite cities around major cities to speed up the expansion of the mother city. Another new concept I am working on presently is called ‘rurban’. It is a big village with a rural soul and an urban feel, having all the amenities that a city can strive for. But the soul would remain rustic.

Q. What are you expecting out of the Vibrant Gujarat investors summit in January 2009.
A. We didn’t have any expectations from the earlier summits in 2003, 2005 and 2007. I don’t give importance to invesments, the focus is actually on job creation. I want the government to have a focussed approach towards growth and these events help in that respect. I don’t want investors to run after the government. I want the government to run around to make things easy for investors. We have always had some focus in each Vibrant
event. Last year it was SEZs, this year it is DMIC and special investment regions (SIRs). The focus is also on infrastructure creation. If we create infrastructure, industry will come here anyway.

Q. Gujarat is going to celebrate its Golden Jubilee in 2010, fifty years after breaking away from Bombay state. How do Gujarat and Maharashtra compare today?
A. For Gujarat, it was like a son walking out of his father’s home. We had to build from scratch. It won’t be nice of me to say who is ahead today. These comparisons can be made by eminent economists. I would like healthy competition. We would like to improve in areas where we are lagging behind.

Q. For how long would you like to remain the Gujarat CM?
A. I am not in this position because I wished to be. So I don’t wish to hang on what I have got.

Q. Do you also have a vision for India?
A. (Pause) I am just a hard-working man. By and large, I try to learn from ordinary people. Being a Gujarati, I understand the pulse of Gujaratis better. I can’t claim to have a vision. I can only show my work and say that I will not cease working hard. It is for the ‘janata’ to judge me.

Q. Some ‘janata’ have started saying that you are the ideal prime minister of the future.
A. There are two ways to harm a person. One, you can give that person less work than what he is capable of doing. Second, you can show him big dreams which he is not capable of achieving. You fire his ambition so that he ventures out and gets finished. In the past, many CMs were shown dreams of becoming PM. I pray (laughs) to all my well-wishers not to make me a sacrificial lamb. I am happy doing what I am doing. (Laughs)

Q. You don’t seem to have any political challenge left in Gujarat. But can terrorism come in the way of your realising dreams about a vibrant Gujarat?
A. Terrorism is not Gujarat’s problem alone. It is a problem for entire humanity. The need is for the right thinking world to isolate terrorism and unite to fight it. There should be a joint strategy to combat terror. In India, all governments, people, media and intelligentsia should come together. It’s like war. Nobody talks about intelligence failure in a war situation. There should be one voice against terror. We need zero tolerance on terror.

Q. If Advani becomes PM, and you the Union home minister, will there be zero tolerance against terror.
A. I thank you for accepting that Advaniji will become PM.

Q. Even Ratan Tata is probably accepting that!
A. (Laughs) Advaniji has himself said that his government will make tough terror laws and have zero tolerance against terror. As to who will join his team is a decision only he can take.

Q. One last question. Does it hurt you that you still can’t get a US visa?
A. On the day I was denied a visa, I had said in an interview that I take this as an opportunity. I want my India to be so strong and prosperous that Americans will queue up to come to India. A day will come when Americans will yearn to come to Gujarat. I convert every adversity into an opportunity and I will do so in this case too.

Q. But do you long to go to the US?
A. When I used to go to the US earlier, a lot of time, money and energy were wasted. I must thank the US for putting an end to that. I have used satellite video at least twice every year to address huge gatherings of Indian people. Just like Dalai Lama lives in India but inspires Tibetans worldwide, I am fortunate I can show my love to Indians all over the world by using technology.

Q. Thank you very much.
A. I enjoyed this. (Laughs)

What West Bengal lost has now turned out to be Gujarat’s gain. But before bagging the prestigious Nano car project from Tata Motors, the Gujarat government under Chief Minister Narendra Modi had adopted a two-pronged “backdoor” strategy.

Since the day Ratan Tata announced his decision to withdraw the Nano car project from Singur, Modi and his team of “chosen” bureaucrats swung into action.

All through, the negotiations Modi and his team of senior bureaucrats had with Tata Motors executives and its chairman were kept under wraps; so much so that many of Modi’s ministerial colleagues and officials in various departments concerned were not aware of the ongoings. Even the media had a tough time digging out information on a day-to-day basis about the development.

The “deal” was kept a closely-guarded secret till Monday night when Tata officials informed the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) about the final decision taken at the Tata Motors’ Board of Directors meeting at Mumbai that night, sources said. A proposal sent to the CMO was later approved at the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday morning.

It was sometime in mid-September that Tata Motors Managing Director Ravi Kant was reported to have made a secret visit to Modi’s official bungalow in Gandhinagar, where the first round of talks on the Nano project took place. Later, the CM began talking to Ratan Tata directly over the phone at regular intervals, convincing the auto czar about how the state government was ready to extend full support to the company to set up its small car project in the state.

Sources in the CMO said that Modi established a direct rapport with Ratan Tata by constantly talking to him over the phone.

Elsewhere, he appointed two of his trusted bureaucrats – newly appointed Chief Secretary D Rajagopalan and Principal Secretary to the CM K Kailasnathan – to hold regular negotiations with senior Tata Motors executives including Ravi Kant.

Apparently, Modi had entrusted the job of negotiating the deal with the Tatas to Rajagopalan when he was still heading the state Finance Department, much before he was elevated to the coveted post of Chief Secretary in place of Manjula Subramaniam, who retired on September 30.

Being credited for successfully handling the three consecutive Gujarat Vibrant summits, Rajagopalan had been in constant touch with Ravi Kant and other senior Tata Motors executives. He arranged the visits of the Tata teams to identify various sites in Gujarat – Savli and Padra in Vadodara district, Mehsana and Prantij in north Gujarat, Halol in Panchmahals and Mundra in Kutch.

Besides, Modi reportedly also roped in his political mentor and NDA’s Prime Ministerial candidate L K Advani, urging the latter to throw his weight behind the government’s efforts to bring the Nano project to Gujarat.

Sources in the state BJP said Advani personally called up Ratan Tata and persuaded him to set up the project in “investment-friendly” Gujarat.

A senior BJP functionary told Newsline that Advani himself started evincing a keen interest in the small car project since the day he learnt that Tata Motors had zeroed in on the Sanand site near Ahmedabad to relocate the project from Singur. Significantly, the Sanand Assembly segment falls under Advani’s Gandhinagar Parliamentary constituency after the delimitation.

Soon after the Tata team zeroed in on the Sanand site, Modi brought in his Principal Secretary Kailasnathan on the scene. Since both

Rajagopalan and Kailasnathan originally hail from south India, they started keeping a close tab on every move the two southern states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka had initiated to woo the Tatas to set up the project in their respective states.

Both the Gujarat cadre IAS officers successfully used their contacts in the bureaucracy of these two states to apprise Modi of the day-to-day developments on the issue. In fact, Rajagopalan was in constant touch with his counterparts in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, said a senior official.

As Modi relied heavily on these two senior officials, Principal Secretary (Industries) Gauri Kumar was asked to handle the lower rung Tata officials, whenever they visited Gujarat in connection with the Nano project.

Despite the best of incentives offered by Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, the main factors that are believed to have weighed in favour of Gujarat are political stability, good infrastructure and industrial peace in the state.

Since the Assembly polls are due in Andhra Pradesh next year, the Tata think tank was not sure which party would come to power there, and what would be the fate of the project if it is relocated there.

In the case of Karnataka, barring the areas in and around Bangalore and Mysore, no other place in has proper infrastructure or logistics in place, sources in the CMO said.

Moreover, Modi has offered to provide all necessary infrastructure to the Tata Motors at Sanand for its car project and also the ancillary units.

Although Modi did not promise tax incentives and land at concessional rates to the Tatas, his assurance to the auto company to dole out indirect benefits by way of providing infrastructure convinced the automobile giant to set up the project at Sanand.

Sources said the estimated cost of the land purchased by the Tatas to set up shop at Sanand is put between Rs 300 crore and 400 crore. The government has, however, asked Tata Motors to make a staggered payment towards the land cost.

AHMEDABAD: With the state government going all out to woo investors from across the country and abroad, the Tata Motors’ Nano project coming to G

ujarat at this juncture will be a triumph of the Modi government and a right start to its effort to bring in high-profile investment.

As part of its Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors’ Summit to be held early next year, the state government is expecting an investment of more than Rs 5 lakh crore, as compared to the Rs 4.61 lakh crore investment it invited in last investors’ summit.

These MoUs, however, are expected to be less glittering as compared to the last year’s summit.

If Modi succeeds in getting the Nano project against stiff competition from other states, it will be yet another feather in his cap. He will be in a position to show to the world that Gujarat is the most investor-friendly state in the country.

And, if the Tatas decide to set up their small car project in Gujarat before the forthcoming Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors’ Summit 2009, Modi can rightly tell the world: ‘The proof of the pudding is in eat-ing’. This will also give him a political mileage and will establish the image of his party BJP as investor friendly as against to the Left Front or Congress.

Political analysts believe that Modi’s claim for converting problems into opportunities, which he has been claiming in public speeches, will get boost if the Nano project comes in Gujarat.

There could be a huge gift in store for Narendra Modi as he completes seven years in office as Gujarat chief minister on Tuesday. The a

ir is thick with anticipation as top Tata Motors honchos flew down from Mumbai late on Monday evening to take one final look at the site near Sanand, 25 kms from the western fringes of Ahmedabad, which has been identified for relocation of the Nano plant. Tata chief Ratan Tata is also expected to arrive on Tuesday.

Sources said the decks have been cleared for transfer of 1,000 acres of land to the Tatas. Modi’s council of ministers will meet at 10 am before the Tata team arrives. The land which the Tatas have to finally select is located within a 2200-acre campus owned by the Anand Agriculture University which serves as a cattle and seed farm.

The university has already transferred 1,000 acres back to the government which went into an overdrive to woo Tata Motors ever since the situation started worsening at Singur in West Bengal. Government officials were hopeful that the deal will be clinched on Tuesday, after a final round of negotiations on the concessions Tata Motors will be seeking.

While Modi has been personally averse to giving concessions to industry, on the ground that such concessions given in the past had led to a huge loss of revenue to the exchequer, there is willingness to make an exception in the case of the Nano project.

“We had to relax our rigid stand considering the fact that other state governments were going all out to roll the red carpet for the Nano plant. Losses due to concessions would be offset by the immense positivity created around the investment climate in Gujarat,” a senior official of the industries department said, while admitting that there could be a tough last round of negotiations.

While Tata Motors’ scouts were scouring sites in Karnataka, AP and Maharashtra over the last two days, there was an air of tentativeness in the Sachivalaya at Gandhinagar, even as officials went about clearing all the documents to transfer 1,000 acres in one go. “Our biggest advantage is that we can hand over the land to Tata Motors on Tuesday itself,” a source said.