Gujarat

Gujarat Tourism by Amitabh Bachan must see..

Friday, March 29, 2013

Sunita Williams to meet Gujarat students


Gujarat Technological University (GTU) will host Indian-American astronaut Sunita Williams, who holds world record for the longest space flight by a woman, on April 6.

Williams who was bestowed an honorary doctorate degree by the GTU will visit the Chandkheda campus and will also deliver a talk to the students.

For this purpose, the GTU has issued a directive to all the affiliated colleges to send names of two top rankers in each branch of the college who is interested to remain present in the interaction by April 4.

These students will be shortlisted and then issued invitation cards to remain present in the campus to listen to Sunita Williams.

GTU officials said that scholastic students, learned faculties, experienced principals and directors, researchers and corporate associates will also be present.

"Nearly 200 students will be selected from those who show their willingness to interact with the astronaut. Students will be able to meet, interact and get valuable guidance and tips from Sunita Williams. She will be interacting with the participants from 9 am to 11 am at the designated venue", said GTU officials.

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Mehsana, Gujarat - Tree count up 13 lakh in five years


Mehsana is fast greening up, with an increase of 13 lakh trees over five years. All eyes are now on Ahmedabad district, where the tree count begins on April 15.

Officials in the forest department said the count will be interesting because of the rapid urban development in the region. Officials said this will be the first tree census after the industrialization in Sanand and nearby areas began.

Officials said the census has gradually begun and in at least five districts, it is almost complete. The count in Mehsana has been finalized. The number of trees in the district increased from 2.23 crore to 2.36 crore. This was an increase of about 6% in the past five years.

The social forest department also carried out a survey on the uses of wood and byproducts of trees such as gum or 'datun', in villagers and the value of this industry. Officers said the social forestry department recently began a survey of just rural areas, to find out the increase in tree cover there, over the last five years. Officials said figures of the five districts have been collated.

H S Singh additional principal chief conservator of forests said: "The survey is being taken up in all rural areas of the state. We have been able finalize data for Mehsana district and it was revealed that the number of trees in rural Mehsana increased from 2.36 crore to 2.23 crore."

Singh said a study is also being up taken up simultaneously. This study will identify the usage of wood and tree products in villages and will also establish the value of this industry for that village. This will help the department to convince other villagers to protect their trees, by citing the monetary and other benefits of protecting trees.

According to the study, in Mehsana, the wood industry was worth about Rs 523 crore. Singh said it has been revealed during the study that leaves were used as fodder, firewood, branches for timber among others. He further said that about 31% of the villagers still use 'datum' to clean their teeth. He said that was also a huge industry in the rural areas and many families earn their livelihood by selling just datuns.

A senior officer from Mehsana said that at least 60% of the villagers still use wood for fire wood. Despite having gas connections, many people were using firewood to heat water during Winter among others uses.

Source TOI

Friday, March 22, 2013

Gujarat to have a dedicated cell for Film shooting


For the first time in six years, pockets of banks in Gujarat bulged with non-resident Indians’ (NRI) deposits in 2012.
Reason may be either removal of interest rate cap by RBI or the depreciating currency, or both, but with Rs5,734 crore more, deposits increased by 22% with the banks during this period. The total NRI deposits with banks in Gujarat increased to Rs31,179 crore by end of December 2012. NRI deposits contribute about Rs3.48 lakh crore, i.e., 9% of total deposits in Gujarat, reveals a State-level Bankers’ Committee (SLBC), December 2012 report.
Till 2011, NRIs used to get interest on deposits of around 4%. “Last year, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) removed the cap. With that, NRIs too could get rate of interest equivalent to citizens of the country. This is the basic reason of huge hike in NRI deposits in 2012,” said SLBC Convener and general manager of Dena Bank, Suresh Patel.
Since 2007, NRI deposits never grew beyond 20%. NRI deposits were Rs18,288 crore by end of 2006, which grew by a mere 4.53% in 2007. During global meltdown, in 2008 and 2009, NRIs had pumped more money in Indian banking systems and so NRI deposits grew by 9.02% and 7.29%, respectively. In 2010, experts believe stock market and real estate attracted NRIs’ money because of which growth was less than 1%. In 2011, it witnessed significant growth of 13.46% and net addition in NRI deposits was Rs3,018 crore.
Other financial experts believe that two more factors — weak currency and slowdown in western countries — along with RBI removing cap, have left the NRIs or NRGs with no choice but to invest in bank deposit schemes in India. In western countries, the interest rates on deposits is less than 3%, whereas here the NRIs are getting about 9%, said Forex expert, and executive director of Vadilal Forex & Consultancy Services, Aspy Bharuch.
“Last year, a cap on interest rate was removed. As a result, instead of getting 4% to 5%, now NRIs are getting around 9% of returns on deposits. Secondly, currency is depreciating which is also giving them returns of another 5%. Overall, NRIs are getting huge benefits in depositing money with banks in India,” Bharucha said, adding that if currency depreciates from present level, NRGs will gain further from it.
Bharucha further said that overseas markets are still shaky. “In Europe and the US, the interest rates on fixed deposits are less than 3%. Moreover, the economies of those countries are on shaky grounds,” said Bharucha.
Maximum flow of NRI deposits comes from the US and the UK, said chairman, GCCI NRG Committee, Kulin Patel. “This trend is likely to continue this year as NRGs will be getting highest returns in India compared to whole world. Interest rates in the US and EU countries are negligible against what they are getting in India. I also believe that NRGs have full faith on Indian banking system, particularly on nationalize and public sector banks,” he said.

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Gir in Gujarat sees tourists double in 2012


The Asiatic lion in its last abode is proving to be a huge draw for tourists across the country. The flow of visitors is growing with each passing year. On an average about 1260 daily tourists have visited Gir forest in the year 2012. This was just 417 odd tourists in the year 2010-11.

In a written reply to the question of Talala MLA, Jasubhai Barad, forest and environment minister Ganpat Vasava said that in Sasan, from April 1 to December 31, 2012, a total of 3.02 lakh tourists visited the Gir forest. The reply stated that as there are three more months for the financial year to close, the numbers will be very high.

The minister said that this figure was only 1.50 lakh in the year 2010-11. In 2011-12, this number increased to 1.72 lakh but in 2012-13, there was a sudden rush and the figure crossed to 3.02 tourists.

The minister said that the increase in the number of tourists was only because of the campaign 'Khushboo Gujarat Ki'.

Officials at Gir said that the sanctuary had on November 14, received a record 9,384 tourists. This is 27% higher than the highest recorded number in the past few years. The previous best was 7,356 tourists in a single day last year.

Sources in the forest department said that looking at the rush, the forest department was forced to introduce additional 20-seater buses. Since the number of individual permits was only 150 a day, it was not easy to meet the rush and it was decided to have 20-seater buses. Last year, two such buses were pressed into service, but in 2012, 12 such buses were pressed into service in the Gir sanctuary with 14 other buses at the Devalia interpretation zone.

The heavy tourist inflow also paved way for large scale infrastructural growth. In the past one year, the number of hotel rooms has doubled in the area from 200 to over 450.

Ahmedabad,Gujarat plans 'home' for working women


Working women might find Ahmedabad safer than other cities of India, but finding an easy-on-the-pocket, safe accommodation continues to be a harrowing task.

But Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has come up with a solution in the matter. AMC’s Road & Building Committee on Monday approved construction of a working women’s hostel in Gulbai Tekra, Navrangpura.

This is probably the first time the civic body is constructing hostels for professionals.

The proposal to construct a working women’s hospital was announced by Municipal Commissioner Guruprasad Mohapatra two years ago, which is seeing light-of-day now. AMC has identified 4,000 sq mt municipal plot in Gulbai Tekra where it aims to construct a five-storeyed accommodation facility for women.

“The hostel will have 52 rooms, with one common television and dining area on the first floor,” said a civic official concerned with the west zone. “We have also planned a dedicated parking area, reception and waiting area on the ground floor.” Each room will house two women.

Speaking of the current status of the project, the official informed that tenders have been invited and a practical bid has been announced. “The bidding is yet to begin. Construction is likely to start in two months,” he added. The project will take 18 months for completion, costing Rs9 crore to the central exchequer. The proposal includes construction of a commercial complex at Rs6 crore.

A similar working women’s hostel has been planned in the south zone as well.

Gujarat tourism shines at national awards, wins in 3 categories


Gujarat Tourism has bagged three national tourism awards for best tourism film, innovative use of information and technology and another in the category of best states for comprehensive development of tourism in the country.

In a statement released here, Gujarat government said its star tourism campaign; 'Khushboo Gujarat Ki' which features megastar Amitabh Bachchan was decorated with the prestigious National Tourism Award 2011-12 in the category of Award of Excellence- Best Tourism Film.

The statement also said Gujarat was adjudged the third best state in Comprehensive Development of Tourism while Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Limited also received the award for Most Innovative use of Information Technology.

5 lakh Gujaratis to participate in ‘Save Water’ campaign on May 5


At a time when neighbouring Maharashtra is facing the worst drought in 40 years, Gujarat is gearing up to conserve water on a war-footing: About five lakh people will gather in Rajkot district on May 5 to participate in a massive “yagna” at the end of a month-long save-water campaign across 4,800 villages of the Saurashtra region.

Being organised by the Surat-based Saurashtra Jaldhara Trust, the campaign, called the Saurashtra Narmada Jal Avataran Janjagriti Mahayagna, will be held at Bhadar dam in village Deola of Gondal taluka in Rajkot district. A 10,000-member committee has been constituted for the purpose. Ministers, MPs, MLAs and politicians will also participate.

The objectives of the massive campaign include closing down unproductive bore-wells.

Prior to the May 5 event, about 55,000 volunteers of the campaign will fan out for a month from April 1 and hold over 2,500 public meetings across the villages to create public awareness on how to save precious water, Mathurbhai Sawani, Chairman of the Trust, told Business Line on Tuesday.

Thousands of Surat-based natives of the Saurashtra region, who are sending representatives to the campaign, have collected nearly Rs 200 crore to provide free-of-charge JCB machines, cement and other material to the 2,000 village-level Jalsanchay Samitis for sinking new tube-wells and bore-wells for common use.

The Saurashtra region, which faced a series of severe droughts in the 1970-2000 period, had transformed this crisis into an opportunity as over two lakh check-dams were constructed in the last two decades to prevent wastage of precious rainwater. Despite erratic and late rains last monsoon, the region is not as parched as it once used to be. In 1998-99, drinking water was being transported in trains from Gandhinagar to Jamnagar, a distance of more than 400 km. It was the check-dam miracle that Gujarat was able to achieve over 11 per cent growth in agriculture in the last few years.

Now, the Trust has chalked out a five-point programme for better water use and conservation: water collection, popularising use of drip-and-sprinkler irrigation across fields, dismantling unusable and very deep bore-wells and tube-wells as they drain out water from the depths of the earth, optimum use of Narmada waters in Saurashtra and working for the success of the proposed Kalpsar Project for creating a sweet-water reservoir in the Gulf of Cambay.

As summer approaches, the Gujarat Government is also planning to fill up 115 dams and rivers with Narmada waters.

Keywords: Gujarat water conservation drive, 5 lakh Gujaratis to assemble at Rajkot, yagna to mark end of save-water campaign, Saurashtra region, Saurashtra Narmada Jal Avataran Janjagriti Mahayagna, Saurashtra Jaldhara Trust

Source:The Hindubusines

Gujarat adds highest new mobile users in Jan 2013


After a disappointing month of December 2012 which saw net subscriber additions dwindling across telecom circles, the month of January 2013 has brought some cheer for about nine telecom operators.

Among all the 22 circles, it is Gujarat which has seen the maximum net subscriber additions of over 470,000 in the month of January 2013, according to the latest figures by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

Following Gujarat are other circles like Rajasthan, Odisha, West Bengal, UP (East), Madhya Pradesh, UP (West), Delhi and Maharashtra who added net subscribers in January as against a dip in net additions in December 2012. However, the remaining circles saw further dip in the same.

In terms of telecom operators, Unitech's Uninor continued its growth streak in Gujarat circle by registering maximum number of net subscriber additions in January at 219,935, followed closely by Idea Cellular at 208,017.

The other operators that saw rise in net additions in Gujarat for the month of January 2013 include Bharti Airtel (172759), BSNL (10789), Vodafone (10000) and R
eliance (3803).

However, operators like Tata  (-61884), Videocon  (-38501) and Sistema (MTS) (-7626) posted further dip net additions in Gujarat circle.

It needs to be mentioned here that in Uninor, Idea and BSNL were the only telecom operators in Gujarat to have registered positive net additions during the month of December 2012.

Even nationally, Uninor emerged as the leader in growth in net additions in the month of January 2013 among all telecom operators for wireless subscribers at 918,552.

Nationally, the number of telephone subscribers in India decreased to 893.15 million at the end of January, 2013 from 895.51 million at the end of December 2012, thereby showing a monthly growth rate of -0.26 per cent. The share of urban subscribers has declined to 61.87 per cent from 62.20 per cent whereas share of rural subscribers has increased to 38.13 per cent in the month of January 2013. With this, the overall teledensity in India decreased to 73.07 at the end of January, 2013 from 73.34 of the previous month.

Source: Business Standard

All the 4 Gujarat Discoms (State electricity boards) the best


For the first time, the State Electricity Distribution Utilities (Discoms) have been rated on the basis of seven parameters including financial status and meeting regulatory norms.

The ratings would help lenders to decide on the rate of interest, conditionalities and additional securities.

The ‘integrated ratings’ are on annualised basis and spread from A+ to C (A+ is best and C is the minimum). The total score is 100.

Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, Minister of State for Power (Independent Charge), said the distribution sector was a vital link in the power sector value chain.

“It is the interface with the end consumers and responsible for generating revenues to sustain the entire value chain of this sector. Therefore, financial health of distribution sector is of utmost important.”

BENEFITS

“The attempt is to develop realistic assessment of strength and weakness of the Discoms. It would provide a tool to banks and financial institutions to calculate their business risks,” said Power Secretary P. Umashankar, while unveiling the ratings mechanism.

The Secretary said that ratings would cover year-on-year comparison of aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses, regulatory environment, payments of subsidy and cross subsidy, quality of accounts, assets created, automated pass-through of fuel cost, short-term power purchase, debt servicing and renewable purchase obligation (RPO) compliance, among others.

SCORECARD

The ratings have been made by ICRA and CARE Ratings. The exercise does not cover private utilities.

Out of the 39 Discoms rated, Gujarat’s four utilities scored the best rating of A+. They include Dakshin Gujarat Vij Company Ltd, Uttar Gujarat Vij Company Ltd, Madhya Gujarat Vij Company Ltd and Paschim Gujarat Vij Company Ltd.

The worst rated utilities are from Uttar Pradesh. They include Paschimanchal, Dakshinanchal, Kanpur and Madhyanchal.

STATES’ HELP

“The rating methodology factors in the important role of the State Government and the Regulator in making the environment congenial and conducive for the effective performance of the distribution companies,” Scindia said.

“We are pursuing a multi-pronged strategy to improve distribution utilities...reduction of AT&C losses will have positive impact on financial health of Discoms,” he added.

Scindia appealed to State Governments to keep the distribution utilities in good health.

The Minister ensured that at the Centre, he would try resolving all inter-ministerial issues.

Sunday, March 17, 2013

French multinational bank, Societe Generale, has opened its first branch in Gujarat at Sanand


French multinational bank, Societe Generale, has opened its first branch in Sanand that will focus on serving local and multinational corporate clients. This is the first branch in the state and the third branch of the 150-year-old bank in India, after Mumbai and New Delhi.

"Gujarat has been chosen as our first step for expanding the bank's presence beyond Mumbai and New Delhi, because it is a very dynamic and investor friendly state in terms of economic growth. It is a dominating industrial state and financing industrial growth is one of our key vocations," Marc-Emmanuel Vives, chief executive and group chief country officer of Societe Generale said on Tuesday.

Sanand is the first branch of the bank to open in India after almost 20 years. "In the last 15 years or so, the focus of the group was on regions closer home. But now we are coming to a phase, where more focus is on Asian economies, especially India," Vives added.

The official felt that Gujarat's "industry mix" corresponded with the priorities of the bank whose strength lay in financing the oil and gas sector. The bank will also be tapping opportunities in pharmaceuticals, automotive, engineering, fertiliser and chemical sectors in the state.

From Sanand, Societe Generale will offer services like long-term financing, working capital, trade finance, foreign exchange, term deposits, accounts management, etc. to clients in Ahmedabad and other industrial towns of the state like Vadodara and Surat.

"At present we have about half-a-dozen clients in Gujarat whom we are servicing from our Mumbai office," Vives told mediapersons. The bank also proposes to offer specialised advisory and financing activities like merger and acquisition, project finance, equipment and commodities financing.

The bank which is looking to grow at 50% year-on-year in the country, is also planning to open new branches in Chennai, Bangalore, Pune and Hyderabad after getting the necessary approvals and permissions from the Reserve Bank of India

Africa to adopt Kesar mango cultivation technique of Gujarat


Africa will soon be able to replicate the production and marketing of the famous Kesar mango from Junagadh in one of its main mango producing regions - Senegal.

Senegal, a major mango-exporting country in West Africa, has approached Gujarat for borrowing its mango cultivation technology. Senegal's exports have been falling since 2010 after the quality of the mangoes as well as fruit fly attacks affected its marketing and sale.


Mabouso Thiam, the director general of Agency for Development of Small and Medium Enterprises (ADEPME) of Senegal, department of industries, the Government of Senegal, is on a two-day visit to Gujarat to discuss mango cultivation technology in the state.

"Senegal has already approached a cluster of mango farmers in Junagadh, where farmers have been cultivating and exporting Kesar mangoes to China," said Jagat Shah, the founder and chief mentor, Cluster Pulse, which is coordinating the meeting. "Gujarat will impart best practices in the business as well as provide technology on value addition like making pulp and mango juice."

According to Shah, the Senegal government had approached European countries for the technology for mango cultivation but did not find it viable. "About 40% of the mango crop is wasted in Senegal and the government is making efforts to boost exports from Senegal," said Shah. "The technology and lessons from Junagadh will help revive the export value of Senegal's mangoes. A team from the agriculture department will soon visit the state."

Thiam will also pay a visit to Amul dairy on Thursday to seek lessons in the dairy industry for Senegal. Among other things, Senegal is seeking technology from Gujarat from various industries like the pharma cluster for tablet manufacturing machines, the diesel engine technology from Rajkot, diamond polishing technology from Surat, brass parts from Jamnagar and ceramics and sanitaryware from Morbi.

The government of Senegal had written to many state and central governments in India for technology but Gujarat government gave the most prompt and elaborate response. Senegal will also tie up with universities in Gujarat for joint research.

Source : TOI

Gujarat fast emerging the choice destination for film making


Destination Gujarat' seems to be the new mantra for filmmakers. As the state zooms ahead on the track of growth and development, it also gets a reel make-over.

Sample this: Abhishek Kapoor's Kai Po Che (Ahmedabad and Vadnagar), Indra Kumar's Grand Masti (Laxmivilas Palace, Vadodara), Tigmanshu Dhulia's Saheb, Biwi aur Gangster Returns (Devgadh Baria) were shot in Gujarat last year. In addition to shooting, planning a studio and entertainment park are now looked at with a keen interest. Interestingly, even south and Punjabi filmmakers are also eyeing Gujarat as a location hotspot.


With the government allocating 1 crore to set up 10 special entertainment zones and film cities, filmmaker Indra Kumar and Ashok Thakeria will build a studio and entertainment park in the Anand district on the lines of Dinsneyworld. The entertainment studio will have star accommodation facilities, restaurants and an amusement park along with a helipad. Ashok Thakeria says, "Mumbai and Umargaon are now saturated as location destinations. Ahmedabad and Vadodara are closer to Mumbai. We are looking at both film and television industry to explore areas here."

The hottest destinations that attract filmmakers to Gujarat are Ahmedabad, Little Rann of Kutch, Bhuj, Mandvi, Great Rann of Kutch, Gondal, Rajpipla, Devgadh Baria, many areas of North Gujarat, Saputara, Polo forest, Dahod, heritage structures of Maqbara (Junagadh). Good accommodation facilities and excellent natural locations are the magnets. Vipul Mittra, principal secretary (tourism), Gujarat says, "Switzerland became popular with Indians, thanks to Yash Chopra's films which were shot there. Bollywood too will help Gujarat become a tourist hub."

Prabhu Deva is shooting Rambo Rajkumar with Shahid Kapur and Sonakshi Sinha in Kutch and they will also shoot in Gondal and Rajkot, Sanjay Leela Bhansali will soon shoot Ram Leela in Bhuj and Rajkot, Nikhil Advani shot D-Day in Ahmedabad and Little Rann of Kutch. Southern films like Mahesh Babu starrer Dookudu and Pavan Kalyan starrer Gabbar Singh were shot in Little Rann of Kutch.

Producer Vicky Rajani says they decided to choose the ethereal white salt desert (of Rann of Kutch) for a song sequence and also Little Rann of Kutch to add a new element to Rambo Rajkumar. Filmmaker Prabhu Deva says, "A house in Rajkot was perfect for my film, so we shot it there."

Filmmaker Tigmanshu Dhulia says, "The beautiful Devgadh Baria palace suited the story of my film." Mujahid Malik, owner of a resort located near the Little Rann of Kutch feels, "that the proximity to Mumbai is the biggest advantage for filmmakers."

Anthony D'Souza's Boss starring Akshay Kumar will be shot in Little Rann of Kutch, Neil Nitin Mukesh shot at Ghordo, Kutch for his untitled flick. Telly star Karanvir Bohra who's debuting as actor/producer in a Punjabi film Love You Soniye says they shot in Vadodara because, "of aesthetics."

For now, it's showtime in Gujarat.

Source : TOI

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Families in Gujarat spent 24.69% more on FMCG


Gujarat has garnered maximum growth in per capita food and non-food consumption expenditure across India during 2004-05 and 2009-10. The state registered a growth rate of about 28 per cent and 33 per cent respectively during these years, according to a study released by an apex industry body.

Besides, Gujarat has also topped in terms of household consumption of fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) with a growth of about 24.69 per cent during the aforesaid five year period, highlights a study titled 'Evolution of Indian Rural Markets During 2004-05 to 2009-10' by Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham).

West Bengal has seen the least growth of just about 1.6 per cent and about 8 per cent in per-capita food and non-food consumption expenditure respectively. The state has also registered negative growth rate of about 2 per cent for household expenditure on FMCG, highlights the study.

While releasing the findings, D S Rawat, national secretary general of Assocham, said that the per capita food and non-food consumption expenditure across India has increased at a pace of over 14 per cent and 17 per cent respectively during the period while the household consumption of FMCG across India has registered a growth rate of over 11 per cent.

Apart from Gujarat, the states of Haryana and Maharashtra have also registered a healthy growth rate of about 24 per cent in per capita food consumption expenditure across India.

Haryana has the highest average rural household monthly expenditure on food items worth over Rs 2,584 followed by Jammu and Kashmir at Rs 2,378 and Punjab at Rs 2,377. While, Odisha has minimum average rural household monthly expenditure on food worth just about Rs 1,215 followed by Tamil Nadu at Rs 1,280, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh at Rs 1,322.

Households in Kerala, Punjab and Haryana spent highest on non-food consumer items as these states have registered an average monthly household expenditure on non-food items worth over Rs 3,078, Rs 2,883 and Rs 2,580 respectively. The study says that Odisha at Rs 936, Bihar and Jharkhand at Rs 1,051 and West Bengal at Rs 1,071 have the lowest monthly household expenditure on non-food items in India.

Rural households in Haryana, Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir spent more on FMCG while rural households in Odisha, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh spent less than Rs 1,000 on FMCG per month.

Apart from Gujarat, the states of Haryana at 24.5 per cent and Maharashtra at 18.6 per cent have witnessed fastest growth in the household monthly expenditure on FMCG and apart from West Bengal, the state of Odisha has also seen significant decline in household expenditure on FMCG

Gujarat ranks third in fruit production


Gujarat is the third largest fruit producing state of India. Renowned for its Hafoos (Alphonso) and Kesar mangos, the state contributes much more to the national fruit production.

The state accounts for 10% of fruits produced in India, and is in third position in state-wise production, after Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. The wide variety of fruits grown is the reason for this no.3 position. Gujarat's fruit bowl also has banana, papaya, chikoo, coconut, guava, green berry, dates, pomegranate, custard apple and cashew.

According to records of the central and state governments, in 2011-12, fruit production in Gujarat touched 77.63 lakh metric tonnes. In 2009-10 the state produced 69.85 lakh metric tonnes. Two reports released recently by the Union agriculture department and the state agriculture department say that fruit production in the state increased by around 11.13% in 2011-12 as compared to 2009-10.

The Union government recently released data for 2009-10, which ranks Gujarat third with fruit production of 69.85 lakh metric tonnes. The fruit produced most in Gujarat is the banana. Gujarat government records show that in 2011-12, banana topped the state's list, followed by papaya and mango.

Officials said banana accounted for about 52% of the total fruit production in the state, papaya 13.67% and mango 12.44%. These three put together account for 78.25% of the state's fruit produce. Officials said that Bharuch and Narmada districts account for around 37% of the banana production in the state.

Dr P M Vaghasia, joint director horticulture, said the state not only supplies the national and local markets but even exports fruit. "Though the rate of export from the state is low compared to other states, we are catching up. Gujarat's mango, pomegranate and banana are exported, while pomegranate, mango and chikoo from the state make it to fruit bowls across the country as well."

He further said that in 2005-06 the area under fruit cultivation was only 2.90 lakh hectares and production was just 46.91 lakh metric tonnes. Over the last six years, the area under fruit cultivation increased by 31%, but production increased by 65%. The cropping area increased from 2.90 lakh hectares to 3.82 lakh hectares and production went from 46.91 lakh metric tonnes to 77.63 lakh metric tonnes.

source :toi

Gujarat shows the way in Governance


What Gujarat does today, others do tomorrow! In the past, there have been several instances that show how the development initiatives of Gujarat have been emulated by several other States. Be it holding business summits to give a boost to investment, to take steps towards enhancing development of skills, of coming out with a new solar policy first, Gujarat has shown that when it comes to innovation and efficient implementation of initiatives that touch the lives of the people, the State emerges with flying colours. The pro-people and proactive development-oriented approach of Narendra Modi has put the State on quick gear as far as the development journey is concerned.

Another such example was seen when the Union Cabinet approved the Rights of Citizens for Time-Bound Delivery of Goods and Services and Redressal of their Grievances Bill, 2011. A careful study of this Bill reveals that what the Central Government has merely passed right now has been in practice in Gujarat in various ways for the last decade. It is only now that the Centre seems to have woken up from its policy paralysis slumber, something which has pushed the nation behind by a decade.

The Rights of Citizens for Time-Bound Delivery of Goods and Services and Redressal of their Grievances Bill, 2011 was approved y the Cabinet on March 7. The Bill provides for time-bound delivery of Government services like passports, birth and death certificates and other documents.

The Bill also puts an obligation on every public authority to publish a citizens’ charter, specifying the time within which specified goods and services will be delivered. Additionally, the bill provides for a grievance redressal mechanism for non-compliance of its provisions. The Bill allows citizens to file complaints regarding grievances related to the Citizens Charter, functioning of Public authority or a violation of a law, policy or scheme.

While it is only now that the scam-ridden UPA Government has realised the need for greater accountability and transparency, Gujarat under Narendra Modi thought well ahead of time and brought the model of ‘One Day Governance’ in 2003 to deliver key services to its citizens in the duration of a single day. The total number of beneficiaries of this One Day Governance in Gujarat are more than 60 lakh people, most of them belonging to poor families.

At the core of the citizen-centric administration by leveraging e-governance infrastructure are the Jan Seva Kendras. The main objective of the JSK is to provide all Government-to-citizen services covered under the Citizens’ Charter. The JSKs mainly offer the following citizen-centric services such as revenue, Panchayat, health, education and agriculture and maintaining a fundamental data of all records.

Over 173 types of public services like essential certificates, affidavits, land, civil supplies are included so far.  The services are divided into 3 types:

1. Tatkal: 20 per cent of the applications are included in this type which takes 20 minutes to 2 hours for processing.

2. One day governance: These applications need a single day for processing. Within a duration of 12 hours, documents such as birth, death and caste are delivered. 40 per cent of applications fall under this category.

3. Non-one day governance: The applications under this category are No Objection Certificates (NOC) from Police, Roads and Buildings, hotel licenses, land allotment for non-agricultural purposes etc.

The JSKs are operational in all Collector and Mamlatdar offices with a PPP model and have yielded outstanding results through quick, convenient and efficient functioning, more transparency.

The intangible outcomes, however, are even more remarkable!

There has been a radical change in the perception of common citizens about Government offices. Additionally, retired citizens have got involved in helping illiterate people in completing their applications. The attitude of Government employees too has changed significantly, owing to transparency.

In the year 2003, the Vadodara District authorities won a Merit Award for implementing One-Day Governance under the category of ‘Exemplary e-Governance Initiative’ at the 7th National E- Governance conference. In 2007, the Department of Information Technology, Government of India evaluated the project as a ‘Model Project’ in district-level e-governance for the entire country! Furthermore, in 2008, Jan Seva Kendras of Gandhinagar received the Stockholm Challenge Award ICT Driven e-Governance Public Service Mechanism, CAPAM 2008 International Innovations Award and was also honoured at the 4TH Dataquest EGOV Summit 2008.

Additionally, the launch of Apno Taluko, Vibrant Taluko (ATVT) in the year 2011 ensures that every Taluka has a resourceful Jan Seva Kendra. This grassroots initiative has activated pro-people governance at the sub-district level!

Narendra Modi has aptly said, “Technology enables last mile delivery. Blending it with the will and determination to deliver, Gujarat has experienced the true power of e-governance.” With this Mantra, Gujarat has also witnessed last mile delivery to the all 18,000 villages too! With the E-Services provided by E-Gram Centres, the State Government has offered G2C (Government-to-Citizen) services such as Land Record services, Certificates and E-ration card Coupon.

In addition to its One Day Governance Initiative and Jan Seva Kendras, the Government of Gujarat has implemented unique and effective schemes to address Citizen Grievances. Narendra Modi has said, “People’s voice is the key driver of a democracy and listening to that voice is the key test of Good Governance.”

While the UPA Government in the Centre has only now begun deliberating on Grievance Redressal through the latest Bill,  SWAGAT (State-wide Attention on Grievances by the Application of Technology)  has been functional in Gujarat from the year 2003. It 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 the administration attends to the grievances of the common man.

Additionally, SWAGAT sessions are also held at the District and the Taluka level. At the district level, the District Collector chairs SWAGAT sessions wherein aggrieved citizens can convey complaints and at the Taluka Level, the Mamlatdar holds similar meetings. Furthermore, the SWAGAT program has been extended up to village level by the launch of the Gram SWAGAT program on 1st February 2011. Under this programme, citizens can lodge their grievances at the Gram Panchayat office and hence do not need to travel all the way to the District Place or the State capital to register complaints.  The programme was honored with the United Nations Public Service Award in 2010 for “Improving Transparency, Accountability and Responsiveness in Public Service Category. Out of the 1,7,3,244 complaints received till the end of 2012, 1,55,374 complaints have successfully resolved. This is an impressive success rate of about 90 per cent.

Modi often says that the real test of good governance is its grievance redressal system. Under his stellar leadership, he has not let this thought remain merely a thought. It has been translated into action and has brought in smiles to the faces of lakhs of Gujarati people. His One Day Governance approach is clearly more valued by the people as compared to the unending test match the UPA is playing with their demands, grievances and aspirations!

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Farm credit of Rs 2.37 lakh crore for Gujarat


The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) has prepared the State Credit Plan for Gujarat envisaging agriculture credit flow of Rs 2,37,698 crore during the Twelfth Five-Year Plan period (2012-2017).
The outlay for the priority sector comprising agriculture, agro-processing, small and micro enterprises, education, the housing sector, etc, stands at Rs 3,46,335 crore, according to a press release here.
This information was given at a seminar organised here by Nabard, in which Dr Varesh Sinha, Chief Secretary, Gujarat, released the State Focus Paper for 2013-14.
H.R. Dave, Chief General Manager, Nabard, Gujarat Regional Office, while speaking about the 2013-14 projections, informed that the total priority sector plan for 2013-14 for the State worked out to Rs
61,300.51 crore, of which agriculture, including crop loan and term loans for various agricultural allied activities, accounts for Rs 41,166.24 crore envisaging a growth of 21 per cent over the 2012-13 targets.
Dr Sinha said the total cultivable area in Gujarat has increased from 110 lakh hectares to 145 lakh ha during the last few years. The State Government will also organise from next year a Vibrant Agriculture event on the lines of Vibrant Gujarat for industrial development.