Some of the major strategic advantages for Nano plant are its proximity to Delhi-Mumbai Infrastructure Corridor (DMIC) and plans of connectivity via state highways to major ports like Dholera special investment region.

Of the total 156 km of the DMIC that will pass through Gujarat, almost 22 km would fall under greater Ahmedabad. Auto ancilliary, engineering and ceramic ware sectors, according to a December 2007 CEPT University report on DMIC, are capable of generating employment for 44,090 people in the state.

Apart from this, industrial clusters like textile and apparel, gems and jewellery, pharma, biotech and agro-processing units are poised to come up in this region. Residential township projects would also get a boost with these investments.

Another effect of Nano project, according to GIDC officials, is that inquiries for space for small-scale industrial clusters in Dholka, Bavla, Dhandhuka and on Bopal-Sanand road have received a new impetus. The 25-odd villages around Dholera SIR too are set to see phenomenal growth in service sector.

“In an almost 70-km radius around DMIC-Dhanduka investment region, state government has already either set up or identified land for seven industrial parks, 19 GIDCs and 11 special economic zones (SEZ), out of which two SEZs have been notified. Nano coming to Chharodi has come as a boost for regions around greater Ahmedabad and Sanand taluka where the DMIC will pass through,” says a senior Gujarat Urban Development Corporation (GUDC) official.

“One of the major motives of charting out special investment areas is to create a hassle-free operational regime, state of the art infrastructure and support services,” adds the official.

With Ahmedabad all set to become a beehive of activity, thanks to the Nano project, the 100-room Taj Residency Ummed is now understood to be gearing up to emerge as one of Taj groups largest properties in India.

Promoted by Ummed Singh Champawats Royale Manor Hotels, the hotel is run by Taj group on a management franchise basis.

The hotel, located near Ahmedabad airport and nearly 40-odd km from the Nano plant site in Sanand, is Taj Group’s sole property in Ahmedabad.

According to sources, plans are afoot to enhance the capacity of Ahmedabad hotel by a whopping four times. While initially, an upgradation of the existing property will be kicked off, additional rooms would be set up later on an adjacent plot that the promoters have recently acquired.

When contacted, Champawat confirmed they were gearing up to add around 100 rooms to the existing property with plans to set up another 250-odd rooms at the additional 25,000 sq yd land they have next door.

“The Taj group was here and is here to stay. We are firming up plans to enhance the hotel into a far superior offering,” Champawat said.

The Taj group, which was the third chain to check into the hotel in 2000 after Sofitel and Oberoi group, had, as part of its recent rebranding exercise, decided that only luxury properties would carry the Taj prefix with the business hotels going by the Gateway brand and the premium properties going by another brand name.

As images of choked black Americans listening to Obama s Yes We Can speech were beamed the world over from Chicago, Tushar Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi s great-grandson, was sitting with US Consul General Paul A Folmsbee in his Mumbai office, just soaking everything in.

We discussed that the movement of Martin Luther King, who was inspired by Gandhiji, has reached its sublimity. Obama s win is in a way a victory of Gandhian ideals, Gandhi told TOI.

Indeed, what started off as Gandhiji s war against racial discrimination in South Africa, had in a way reached its sublimity in US. In my life, I have always looked to Mahatma Gandhi as an inspiration, because he embodies the kind of transformational change that can be made when ordinary people come together to do extraordinary things, Obama had said.

Also, while paying tribute to the Mahatma on October 2, he had said: Gandhi s significance is universal. Countless people around the world have been touched by his spirit and example. His victory in turn inspired a generation of young Americans to peacefully wipe out a system of overt oppression that had endured for a century.

And more recently led to velvet revolutions in Eastern Europe and extinguished apartheid in South Africa… Through the power of his example and his own unshakeable spirit, Gandhi inspired a people to resist oppression, sparking a revolution that freed a nation from colonial rule.

Anil Gupta, a professor at IIM-Ahmedabad, who has adopted the Gandhian ideals in his grassroot innovators movement, says, Obama has stuck to Gandhi when it came to campaigning. Like the Mahatma, he too spoke of Unto the Last the last man in the queue and stressed on an inclusive and sustainable social development.

AMC has identified 140 children aged between six and 14 from the Gomtipur and Rajpur wards in the city, who have never been to school.

“We got the approval for this pilot project from our standing committee last week, and with the help of AMTS and CPEC. We will begin around November 15,” said Lagdhir Desai, Administrative Officer, School Board, AMC. He further said, “In this education bus, apart from education we will be providing health kits to the kids. As promised by IP Gautam, Municipal Commissioner, we will be getting one AMTS bus free of charge. The salary of driver and fuel expenses will be borne by AMTS.”

Under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), six teachers will be appointed on a pay of Rs 1,500 per month, Desai said. These teachers have already been given 60 days training for the purpose. “After the successful completion of this project, these children will be transferred to AMC schools. Every student will appear in an examination and later absorbed in schools on the basis of the scores they obtain,” said Desai. After getting feedback from the teachers and evaluating the performance of the kids, the project will be taken to the next level and more wards and children will be identified, said Desai, who expressed hope that the project will be a success.

Infrastructure major L&T is laying down a pipeline for export crude oil insulated pipeline and gas pipeline from Barmer, Rajasthan to Salaya, Gujarat for Cairn India. While the company has moved in a lot of engineers for construction of the pipeline, there will be more workers coming into the region for the proposed highway project.

L&T is developing three highway stretches, including Halol-Godhra-Shamlaji, Ahmedabad-Viramgam-Maliya and Rajkot-Jamnagar-Vadinar. These projects are being executed on built-operate-transfer (BOT) basis.

As part of state governments road expansion project, L&T entered into an agreement for four-laning of these three highways involving an investment of Rs. 4,308 crore. Sources say Viramgam has a location edge as it is an important transit point in state linking Saurashtra, Kutch, north Gujarat and Ahmedabad.

Moreover, Viramgam also falls under Proposed Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC). Whats more, based on a study conducted by CEPT University, Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Ltd (TCGL) has identified Viramgam, along with 35 other towns in the state as a tourist spot. Tourism Corporation will upgrade infrastructure in these towns with help of government agencies like road department, irrigation, collectorate, municipal bodies and even Archaelogical Survey of India (ASI).

With the recently concluded World Health Organisation (WHO) meet in Ahmedabad, Gujarat has taken one step ahead in attracting international-level conferences. Ahmedabad has hosted quite a few important corporate meetings in the past. This, perhaps, because of the economic activities happening in the city, as well as the state.

Tourism Minister Jay Narayan Vyas said: “While the WHO meet held recently in Ahmedabad was outside the capital for the first time, Gujarat is increasingly playing host to a number of conferences. This is an indicator of how our state is being perceived by corporate groups and that we are gaining importance in terms of being preferred as a destination for all kinds of activities.”

Ahmedabad alone has seen an influx of demand for ‘meeting locations’ and is thereby increasing a number of related facilities. Vyas further said: “The three and four star hotels under construction will add a whopping figure of 3,500 rooms, to the already existing hospitality industry in Ahmedabad in a year’s time. The figure is again an indication of the kind of demand that exists in the city. Gujarat will emerge as a prime location for conferences and meetings in a few years.”

Bangalore based Narayana Hrudayalaya hospital will set up a medical college in Gujarat on an investment of Rs.2.5 billion ($507 million). A 1,500 bed hospital is planned as part of the project that will come up in the state capital Ahmedabad. 

Chandil Kumar, medical administrator of the hospital, told IANS: “We are working on the project and focusing on getting necessary approvals.”

A fact sheet brought out by the Gujarat government ahead of January 2009 Vibrant Gujarat Summit said the Bangalore hospital’s project is part of the special effort being made to expand medical education facilities in the state.

Government sources said the state has begun to attract investments including foreign on a substantial scale. According to state data, there are currently 42,285 registered doctors and 17,751 trained nurses in Gujarat.

The fact sheet says besides Narayana Hrudayalaya, medical colleges are also being planned by the Fortis group, Bombay Hospitals and the Artemis Group of Hospitals belonging to Apollo Tyres Limited. 

Artemis has proposed to set up a Rs.5 billion medical education hub on the Vadodara-Ahmedabad highway. 

The Bombay Hospitals belonging to the Reliance Group is joining hands with MS Hospital in Vadodara to establish a medical institute that will offer both under- and post- graduate medical courses. Apart from these new projects, expansion projects are also on the anvil. 

The Ahmedabad-based Sterling Addlife India Limited which is running a multi-specialty hospital in the city is planning to invest Rs.7 billion to set up a 150-bed hospital in Surat, 125-bed hospital in Rajkot and 100-bed hospital in the Mundra Special Economic Zone. 

The Healthcare group (HCG) of Banglaore has already set up a multi-specialty hospital in Ahmedabad at a cost of Rs.1 billion.

Priti Chand, Director (PR and Communication) of the compny, told reporters yesterday that Phoenix Group Global has launched its brand of luxury hotels and the first property under this brand, ‘The Zuri Whitefield’, at Bangalore built at a total investment of Rs 200 crore would be operational from January next year.

She said that the company also plans to set up a chain of five star hotels across the country, including star-rated properties in Ahmedabad, Nagpur, Kochi, Chennai and Visakhapatnam in which land acquisitions are in the advanced stage.

Deepak Mowar, Vice-President, Parsvnath Hotels said, “There is demand of quality hotel rooms in Ahmedabad. Our project in Ahmedabad tries to fill this gap by providing all amenities under one roof.” Mowar further added, “Moreover, considering the investor-friendly environment of Gujarat, leading companies have been showing their interests in establishing their manufacturing units there. This will further enhance the demand for our project

Tata Motors, which is coming up with the Nano car plant in Ahmedabad district, also holds the key to turning around the fortunes of the Ahmedabad Stock Exchange (ASE). The company may soon get listed on the ASE. 

Shareholders here always have a sentimental attachment to the companies which have manufacturing facility in the state. Both Arvind Mills and Reliance Industries have earned a lot of goodwill from the local investors. If Tata Motors decides to get listed at the ASE, it may ensue listing of other companies as well, which is likely to take the ASE to a path of revival. 

As of now, there are barely any listings on the ASE as business has shifted to Mumbai. ASE members are sub-brokers of the BSE through the ASE Capital Markets Ltd (ACML), which is a member of the BSE. The business on the ASE went down because companies did not list their scrips after the Harshad Mehta securities scam. 

The possibility of the revival of the ASE is not as remote as it seems if one goes by the recent SEBI announcement of allowing to raise individual cap on raising of personal holdings in the paid up equity capital of bourses from five to 15 per cent. Banks, insurance companies and stock exchanges fall in the categories that can have investment in stock exchanges. 

ASE executive director K K Mishra is of the opinion that the SEBI move is a good omen for the ASE. 

“It will not only give an exit route to the present shareholders, but also open up new vistas for fresh investors to give fillip to this historic bourse. It is also a good chance for the NSE and BSE to ponder over investment here and thus revive this exchange,” he said. 

SEBI has been receiving requests that the present limit of 5 per cent is acting as a deterrent for attracting long-term anchor/strategic investors in stock exchanges. 

Now that the market regulator has agreed to jack up the limit, this should prove a boon to exchanges like the ASE in their second coming – enough for fresh listings from the region